Former Manitoba premier Stefanson joins WestJet board

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This article was published 21/05/2024 (493 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson has been named a WestJet Group board member, the Calgary-based airline announced Tuesday.

The news came the same day WestJet unveiled new direct flights between Winnipeg and two southern sun destinations.

Stefanson’s background in government and regulation affairs will help strengthen the company’s relationships across the country, WestJet Group’s board chairman said in a news release.

The umbrella company encompasses WestJet and the discount carrier it purchased last year, Sunwing Airlines. (This week, WestJet announced it was pushing back its planned integration of Sunwing to April 2025.)

The corporation is pursuing “ambitious growth,” board chairman Chris Burley said. “We are thrilled to officially welcome Heather … at such a critical time in the execution of our strategy.”

After premier Brian Pallister stepped down, Stefanson won the following Progressive Conservative party leadership vote and was sworn in as Manitoba’s 24th premier in November 2021. The longtime MLA for Tuxedo (2000-24) retained her seat in the 2023 election, but the PCs were reduced to Opposition status in an NDP majority victory.

Prior to leading Manitoba’s government, Stefanson was a senior cabinet minister, at times overseeing the province’s health, families and justice files. She also was a political adviser to Tory prime minister Brian Mulroney. In April, she announced her retirement from the legislature, effective May 6.

On Tuesday, Stefanson, 54, called it an “honour” to join WestJet Group’s board.

“I look forward to joining my fellow board members in helping steward the strategy forward,” she said in a news release.

Over the past two years, WestJet has launched a number of direct flights from Winnipeg, including to Los Angeles and Atlanta.

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It announced weekly flights from the Prairie city to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Los Cabos, Mexico, on Tuesday.

The flights to Los Cabos, on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, are set to operate from Nov. 9 to April 26.

Flights to Fort Lauderdale, a city on the southeastern U.S. coast, will operate from Nov. 18 to April 21.

“WestJet continues to invest in building the connectivity our community needs to thrive,” Winnipeg Airports Authority CEO Nick Hays said in a news release. “Today’s announcement gives our region even more options to the destinations that matter.”

The airline announced last month it will begin offering daily year-round flights to Montreal and Ottawa from Winnipeg, and seasonal flights to Nashville.