WestJet president and CEO Gregg Saretsky is stepping down.
EVP of commercial Ed Sims is taking over his position immediately, the carrier
announced Thursday. WestJet said Saretsky, who has been president and CEO
since March 2010, had announced his intentions to retire, and because the
company had found his successor, he and WestJet agreed that his retirement would
be effective immediately. Under his leadership, the carrier doubled its fleet
size, including adding widebody aircraft; began service to Europe; introduced
codesharing; and launched Encore, a low-cost carrier.
Sims joined WestJet in May 2017 but has worked in the travel
and aviation industries for more than 30 years, including leadership roles with
Air New Zealand, Virgin Group, Thomas Cook and TUI Group. Before joining
WestJet, Sims was CEO of New Zealand's air navigation service provider,
Airways.
In a research note, Cowen wrote that the sudden
leadership change likely did not indicate a shift in strategy: "Despite
the change at the top, we do not expect much in the way of a change in
philosophy at the company as they continue to move forward on building out
their international widebody service and their ultra-low-cost-carrier, Swoop."