Westjet Updates Fleet Forecast To 118 Boeing 737S By 2013

WestJet Airlines Ltd. updated its fleet expansion forecast yesterday, saying it now hopes to have 118 Boeing 737s by 2013. The Calgary-based airline's newly appointed chief executive Sean Durfy told a group gathered at an investor's conference in London that he wants to make WestJet the "dominant carrier in Canada" by increasing its domestic market share from about 32% today to up to 50% in the next six years. In his first public appearance since taking over as CEO last week, Mr. Durfy said he wants to increase WestJet's share of U.S. transborder traffic from 7% to up to 20%, and its share of the Mexican/Caribbean traffic from Canada from 1% to up to 20% over the same period. The revised fleet size estimate -- up from 111 -- is not based on any previously announced purchases, new orders, or the addition of any specific routes, according to Gillian Bentley, a spokeswoman for the airline, but is rather based on the number of planes the airline now thinks it will need to accommodate growth. "Looking at where we want to go and what we want to do, this is the figure we're going to need to have by 2013," she said. West-Jet currently has 68 737 aircraft and will add two more by the end of the year.

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