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Corporate Culture at WestJet
BACKGROUND NOTE
WestJet’s origins date back to 1994, when a businessman based in Calgary, Canada Clive Beddoe (Beddoe), who traveled frequently, bought a small aircraft for the purpose. He also leased the plane through a local company Morgan Air Services, owned by Tim Morgan (Morgan). The high cost of air travel in Canada and the success of low-cost airlines in the US set the two of them thinking about starting their own discount airline. Beddoe and Morgan got together with two other businessmen, Don Bell (Bell) and Mark Hill (Hill), to start the airline. Their plan was to offer low fares, attract new customers, operate on new routes, and expand the market, instead of snatching away a share from existing airlines. They were of the view that the availability of low fares would encourage more people to fly. |
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Beddoe was the Chairman and CEO, Hill was the director of Strategic Planning, Morgan took charge of operations, while Bell took care of customer service. Other prominent investors in the venture included David Neeleman, whose company Morris Air was acquired by Southwest Airlines. The first commercial flight of the airline began operations in February 1996. All the pilots and flight crew were based in Calgary....
