WestJet Group recently started integrating Sunwing Airline’s fleet of 18 Boeing 737s into its operations, roughly two years after acquiring the Canadian leisure carrier – and more than three years removed from the deal’s announcement.
The Calgary-based company says it will complete its long-planned integration of Sunwing with its WestJet operation on 29 May.
The “first group” of Sunwing aircraft were transferred to WestJet’s air operator’s certificate in February, and three 737s previously operated by Sunwing are now deployed within WestJet’s network.
All 18 Sunwing jets will be worked into service “eventually”, but aircraft “branding and cabin layout may vary until all can be repainted and refreshed to align with WestJet’s standard product offering”.
“Some inconsistencies to cabin layout may be present as work progresses to integrate both airline’s operations,” WestJet says.
Sunwing pilots and flight attendants are in the process of transferring to WestJet, as well.
WestJet disclosed its intention to acquire Toronto-based Sunwing in March 2022 and in May 2023 completed the purchase, effectively eliminating a discount carrier from the Canadian market. The deal also brought Sunwing Vacations into WestJet’s portfolio.
The airline company had previously planned to complete the integration in October 2024, but it faced a months-long delay related to training the ultra-low-cost carrier’s (ULCC) pilots and changing measurement units in the cockpits of Sunwing’s 737s.
In a tight market for narrowbodies, WestJet has fuelled its fleet-growth plans via airline acquisitions and with the opportunistic acquisition of all nine 737 Max 8s operated by now-defunct ULCC Lynx Airways upon that carrier’s collapse.
WestJet Group completed in October 2023 the integration with its WestJet operation with former ULCC subsidiary Swoop, which operated a fleet of 16 737s.
The company says 43 737s are to receive full cabin reconfigurations before the end of 2025, including “all former Swoop, Sunwing and Lynx aircraft”.
Howard Hardee is Americas aviation reporter for FlightGlobal.com and Flight International magazine, covering major and regional airlines in North America and low-emissions initiatives throughout the industry. He formerly covered politics for journalism nonprofit Wisconsin Watch and has written about science, music, travel and forestry as a freelancer for dozens of blogs, newspapers and magazines.View full Profile
