Canadian carrier Westjet says it is confident of the success of its Gatwick route despite problems with the reliability of its B767-300ER aircraft on the route (see Motley Fool Is Westjet ltd set to fly higher on older wings?)
The B767s the carrier uses on the route are on average over 20 years old and previously were operated by Qantas. The airline’s trans-atlantic service has struggled in its early months with punctuality and reliability as a result of problems in quickly locating replacement parts according to the CEO Gregg Saretsky. Nevertheless, speaking with the Canadian press yesterday (Calgary Sun), Saretsky said the Gatwick route would be profitable.
“We’re actually ahead of where we expected to be. The flights have been very, very well subscribed,” he said, and added that. “We haven’t had a single flight cancellation in the month of July. We’ve had 19 days of perfect operation with great on-time performance. I think those early day hiccups are behind us,”
Previously, in May and June, according to FlightStats, the six-times weekly Vancouver to London flight achieved only a five per cent on-time result.
