WestJet will replace older Boeing 737-700s with new 737 Max 8s this year.
The Calgary-based carrier is moving up the retirement of many of its older 737-700s in the face of high fuel costs, WestJet chief executive Alexis von Hoensbroech told FlightGlobal en route to the IATA AGM in Rio de Janeiro.
The airline has not finalised the number of aircraft that will leave its fleet this year but plans to replace them on roughly a one-for-one basis with new 737-8s.
WestJet is scheduled to take delivery of 17 737-8s and one 737 Max 10 in 2026, von Hoensbroech says.
The fleet renewal comes after 18 months of challenges for the airline. Geopolitical tensions last year between the US and Canada saw leisure demand drop by about a quarter, prompting the airline to end numerous routes and shift capacity. This year, fuel shortages in Cuba forced the airline to suspend flights to a country that is popular with Canadian holidaymakers. And the latest run-up in fuel prices globally has prompted further capacity cuts and the fleet renewal.
WestJet, including its leisure and regional subsidiaries Sunwing and Encore, will fly roughly 2.5% less capacity in the second quarter than they did a year ago, Cirium Diio schedules show.
Von Hoensbroech sees the current fuel situation as an opportunity to modernise the airline. WestJet, he hopes, will emerge stronger and more resilient when fuel prices return to historic norms.
WestJet operates 36 737-700s that are among the oldest in its fleet with many aircraft more than 20 years old, FlightRadar24 data shows.
It plans to fully retire the 737-700s at an accelerated pace in the “next couple years”, von Hoensbroech says.
WestJet has firm orders for 108 737 Max aircraft, including both the -8 and -10, and nine Boeing 787-9s, Boeing’s latest Orders and Deliveries data shows.
The airline may end up the launch operator of the 737-10 when the first aircraft arrives, a date that may slip into the first quarter of 2027, von Hoensbroech says. The timing is subject to, first, US Federal Aviation Administration certification of the stretched Max aircraft and, second, Transport Canada certification.
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