WestJet connects Winnipeg to Atlanta By: Martin Cash Posted: 11:45 AM CDT Thursday, May. 11, 2023

Winnipeg travellers are about to be connected the busiest airport hub in the world — Atlanta — via direct, five-times-per-week WestJet flights, starting in September.

Aided by up to $5 million worth of incentives from the provincial government, it is the second major new route out of Winnipeg Richardson International Airport initiated by Calgary-based WestJet in the past seven months.

The airline started its daily Winnipeg-to-Los Angeles service in November.

Establishment of both routes was assisted by a new funding subsidy provided by the province, which kicks in if certain thresholds of passenger counts are not met.

The decision to launch the Atlanta route has a lot to do with the connectivity provided by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, officials said.

It is Delta Air Lines’ global hub (WestJet is a Delta partner) and has become the busiest airport in the world, moving 110 million passengers in 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic began) and 94 million last year.

(By comparison, the Winnipeg airport serviced four million passengers in 2019, and more than three million in 2022.)

Like the previous announcement of the L.A. route, opening a direct line to Atlanta was met with encouragement and support from just about every quarter of the community.

Thursday’s announcement was made at Price Industries Ltd., a leader in the manufacture and design of HVAC parts and equipment. The company has 10 production facilities in the U.S., including one in Atlanta that employs 1,500 people.

“This is surprising and unbelievably delightful news,” said Gerry Price, company chairman and chief executive officer, who has himself made hundreds of trips to Atlanta since the late 1980s.

Winpak Ltd. is another Winnipeg company with a sizable operation in Georgia, just south of Atlanta.

“This is absolutely going to be helpful. Georgia is our second-most significant flexible film plant (next to Winnipeg) and is managed by the same team. Our Winnipeg people are going back and forth all the time,” said CEO Olivier Muggli.

Notwithstanding the business connections that currently exist — Atlanta is also the third-largest film and television production location in the U.S, and the southeastern U.S. is an important target audience for tourism in northern Manitoba — WestJet officials believe the route will be a success because of the connectivity available out Hartsfield-Jackson.

John Weatherill, executive vice-president and chief commercial officer of WestJet, said the Winnipeg-L.A. flights have exceeded expectations.

He believes Winnipeg-Atlanta can be even more successful.

“It is the best gateway in the world, and now Winnipeg is connected to it,” he said. “In conjunction with Delta, Winnipeg travellers will be able to seamlessly connect 50 code-shared destination in the U.S. and 61 international routes from Atlanta.

“So it’s not just one new route: it’s more than 100 new routes for the price of one.”

Just prior to the announcement of the Los Angeles route, the province announced it was contributing $5 million to the Winnipeg Airports Authority to attract new flights.

Westjet launches direct flights to L.A.

Premier Heather Stefanson said those funds have not been tapped into for the L.A. flights because passenger counts have gone well. She said it is expected the Atlanta direct route will generate $2.2 million in economic activity per year.

The practice of airports using subsidies as incentives to encourage airlines to service their communities is a relatively new phenomenon in Canada that has arisen post-pandemic.

“We want to make sure Winnipeg has the opportunity to get additional flights. When an airline is prepared to take a risk, we need to ensure that they hit a minimum threshold,” Economic Development Winnipeg CEO Dayna Spiring said.

Edmonton has a $10-million fund to do just that, and Manitoba needs to be competitive in that regard, she added.

“We knew we had to compete,” Spiring said. “And, thankfully, the province made sure we could go and bid on some of these great routes that make sense from an economic development point of view.”

John Gradek, a professor at McGill University studying supply chain, logistics, operations and aviation management, said while the practice of providing incentive to airlines is new in Canada, it’s common in the U.S.

“The Winnipeg airport has been probably one of the more high-profile users of that type of tool, but in the U.S., airlines are continuously being courted by municipalities,” he said, adding Canadian governments have shied away from using public funding to subsidize private industry.

“It will be interesting to see what the court of public opinion says about whether or not it is the proper use of public funds.”

The first flight on a WestJet Boeing 737 direct to Atlanta is scheduled to depart Winnipeg at 9 a.m. Sept. 6.

Initial fares now posted are $219 one way, with all taxes and ancillary fees included.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Martin Cash
Reporter

Martin Cash has been writing a column and business news at the Free Press since 1989. Over those years he’s written through a number of business cycles and the rise and fall (and rise) in fortunes of many local businesses.

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