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WestJet CEO Vows to Win Back Investors With Discount Unit, 787s

  • New boss says airline must do better job executing strategy
  • Sims says he’s optimistic deal with pilots can be done in 2018
A WestJet Airlines Boeing 737 passes the downtown city skyline as it lands in Calgary.
A WestJet Airlines Boeing 737 passes the downtown city skyline as it lands in Calgary.

Photographer: Larry MacDougal/Bloomberg

WestJet Airlines Ltd.’s new boss, working to reverse this year’s stock swoon, says he has a lot riding on the carrier’s new discount unit and a fleet expansion with Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners.

Canada’s No. 2 airline has to show investors it’s able to execute both parts of its plan while also managing labor talks with its pilots and flight attendants, Chief Executive Officer Ed Sims said in an interview Monday. The budget operation, known as Swoop, is scheduled to start in June.