News Releases

Airline expands capacity to serve French-speaking guests   

CALGARY, April 4, 2016 /CNW/ - WestJet announced today it will open a contact centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, to enhance service for its French-speaking guests. The new facility will open in September 2016, and over the next four years will create more than 400 primarily home-based jobs, two-thirds of which will be full time.

"We've always taken our responsibility to provide our signature friendly, caring and stress-free service in both of Canada's official languages seriously," said Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO. "A second call centre based in Canada's only officially bilingual province, in a city known as a centre of excellence for Business Services Centres, will allow us to provide additional hours of service for our French-speaking guests."

"We are pleased that WestJet has chosen New Brunswick to expand its east coast presence," said Premier Brian Gallant. "The number of jobs that are not tied to a physical location is growing rapidly across Canada. Our bilingual and highly skilled workforce has made New Brunswick a leader in the Business Services Centre industry and we are ideally positioned to capitalize on this growth."

Opportunities NB will contribute a $1 million forgivable loan and up to $2.5 million in payroll rebates for a $62 million return on investment. Once the jobs are created, the annual provincial GDP is expected to increase by $24 million. The total WestJet payroll in New Brunswick over the first six years is expected to be $34 million.

Moncton was WestJet's first destination in Atlantic Canada, launching service in April 2000. Since 2013, the airline has doubled its departures and increased seat capacity to and from the city by 67 per cent. In the peak summer months, WestJet flies twice daily between Moncton and Toronto, with non-stop weekly service to Cancun and Orlando in the winter. In 2015, the airline launched twice-daily service from Fredericton to Toronto, adding a third flight earlier this year.  

WestJet will begin posting for bilingual contact centre agents in Moncton shortly. Qualified applicants may apply at westjet.com/greatjobs.

About WestJet
We are proud to be Canada's highest-rated airline for customer service, powered by an award-winning culture of care and recognized as one of the country's top employers. We offer scheduled service to 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through our regional airline, WestJet Encore, and with partnerships with airlines representing every major region of the world, we offer our guests more than 150 destinations in more than 20 countries. Leveraging WestJet's extensive network, flight schedule and remarkable guest experience, WestJet Vacations delivers affordable, flexible travel experiences with a variety of accommodation options for every guest. Members of our WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Our members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of WestJet flights and vacations packages on any day, at any time, to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods  ̶  even on seat sales. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.  

Recent recognition includes:

2015/2011/2010/2008/2007/2006/2005 Canada's Most Admired Corporate Culture (Waterstone Human Capital)
2015 Best Employers in Canada (Aon Hewitt)
2015/2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (MoneySense magazine)
2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in the Canada's Choice ranking (RewardsCanada.ca)
2014 Interbrand Canada's Best Canadian Brands (Rank #20)
2014 Brands of the Year (Strategy magazine)
2014 Canada's Most Preferred Airline (Ipsos)
2014 Value Airline of the Year (Air Transport World magazine)
2014/2013/2012 Canada's Most Attractive Employer (Randstad)
2014/2013/2012/2011 Highest equity score: airline, vacation package supplier brands (Harris/Decima EquiTrend Study)

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SOURCE WestJet