It’s been a frustrating week for WestJet and many of its passengers.
In recent days, five of the Calgary-based airline’s planes were targeted by hoax threats, the latest on Thursday night on a flight from Las Vegas to Victoria. No explosives were found on any of the aircraft.
While the immediate operational costs to WestJet (and local law enforcement) are considerable, the unsettling spate of diversions and emergency evacuations is unlikely to have lasting consequences for the airline’s lauded brand, analysts say — assuming the threats stop soon.
The airline is one of Canada’s top-ranked brands and has amassed a loyal following rarely seen in the aviation world. But some marketing experts say that a persistent “global paranoia” surrounding air disasters could cause problems for even a company as popular as WestJet.
“It’s unfortunate for WestJet , but most passengers realize that in situations like this, the airline is a victim too,” says Mike Boyd, president of the Colorado-based aviation consulting firm The Boyd Group.
“There’s just not much WestJet can do about it, other than follow the proper safety protocols. They can’t stop someone from calling in and making threats, even if it’s empty threats.”
Certainly the added costs of diversions are an ugly proposition for any airline. According the International Air Transport Association, a global airline trade group, diversions ignite a “cascade” of operational costs that can run from $15,000 US for domestic flights to more than $100,000 US for large planes flying internationally.
WestJet flies an average of 420 flights every day, so five diversions are, from a cost perspective, fairly negligible. Boyd points out that a “nasty storm over Calgary” could end up costing an airline like WestJet more money than phoney threats aimed at specific flights.
The more troubling question for WestJet’s future is how the airline’s meticulously manicured brand might be affected, and marketing and communications experts are seemingly split on the answer.