WestJet Cargo and Jettainer have agreed on a long-term extension to a partnership dating back to 2015. Canada’s second largest airline and the international leader in outsourced ULD management signed the contract at the air cargo Europe in Munich. Over the coming years, Jettainer will continue to manage and maintain WestJet’s entire ULD fleet, providing additional main deck contrainers as the airline now launches its first freighter services.
WestJet currently operates a Boeing fleet of more than one hundred 737-700, 737-800, 737 MAX 8 and 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. 2023 will see a significant expansion to its cargo operations with the inclusion for the first time of four 737-800BCFs in its fleet. Three Boeing Converted Freighters have already entered service and the fourth one will join in due course. Customers will benefit not only from WestJet Cargo’s additional capacity, but also from connections between Canada and the Caribbean, Europe, Japan and the United States. Flight punctuality and meeting the promise to its customers is top of WestJet Cargo’s management agenda.
As it builds its cargo airline subsidiary from scratch, WestJet’s newly hired team of experienced and motivated cargo staff will focus on tapping into the ever growing e-commerce business along with other valuable commodities that the region offers, such as perishables. April 22, 2023 saw the successful first freighter flight in WestJet’s airline history take off, kicking off a rapidly expanding network of pure cargo services, complementing its long experience in belly freight operations.
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Jettainer provides a highly efficient and reliable ULD (Unit Load Device) management service to WestJet, with a fleet of more than 1,000 containers and pallets for baggage and freight. The container fleet has consisted predominantly of lightweight AKE units and has now been expanded to include freighter-specific main deck containers. Additional equipment needed at short notice has flexibly been supplied via the lease&fly service.
Jettainer constantly analyses ULD requirements, movements and stock levels, and adjusts the fleet composition as necessary, ensuring that it meets WestJet’s requirements at all times. Its enhanced IT solution, JettWareNG, which focuses even more on automation and AI-supported decision-making processes, brings additional efficiency gains. Moreover, lost ULDs are tracked down through intelligent use of data and data analytics, also identifying units stranded at off-airport locations for extended periods of time.
“For years, Jettainer has been a trusted provider of ULD management services for WestJet and has continued to improve and innovate its services. Even during Covid and post-pandemic, and despite high fluctuations in our ULD requirements, we could always count on Jettainer for the availability of the ULDs needed. Outsourcing ULD management allows us to fully focus on cargo sales, knowing that we have a competent partner taking care of our growing container and pallet needs. As we now launch and scale up our cargo division, Jettainer’s niche expertise will play a key role in our development. We look forward to many more years of successful partnership,” Kirsten De Bruijn, Executive Vice-President Cargo WestJet, says in Munich.
“We could not be prouder of the trust expressed through this renewed contract extension. Our long-standing partnership with WestJet is a prime example of how we focus on our customers’ individual needs. Our dedicated teams, openness to innovation, and the highest level of transparency help companies be successful in the long term. We are very much looking forward to accompanying WestJet in realizing its ambitious development plans,” Kothari Shailendar, Managing Director of Jettainer Americas Inc., states when announcing the contract extension at air cargo Europe.
