WestAir

WestAir is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Western Republic. Based out of Calgary, this airline was founded in 1919, flies to over 200 destinations worldwide, and is currently the world's largest airline based off of fleet size, and the second largest airline with the most passengers every year. WestAir also has a domestic low cost subsidiary called Western Skyways, as well as a regional subsidiary called WestAir Regional. WestAir also owns the ultra low cost carrier, which is based out of Edmonton, and flies flights across North America, not all originating from the Western Republic.

WestAir is the oldest airline in the world that is still in operation.

History
WestAir was founded on January 17, 1919, in Seattle. WestAir began operations less than one year later on December 25, 1919, on Christmas Day. WestAir's maiden flight was made from Seattle to Vancouver, flown with a Boeing Model 5.

In late 1939, WestAir relocated its headquarters to Calgary, the nation’s capital, as a result of Calgary’s new airport opening.

Throughout WestAir's history, the main WestAir fleet consisted mostly of aircraft that were built by Boeing or McDonnell Douglas. WestAir did fly aircraft produced by other companies throughout its history, such as the Lockheed Constellation (1945-1974), the Vickers Viscount (1950-1968), the De Havilland Comet (1953-1959), the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (1972-2001).

On November 2, 1959, WestAir completed its first commercial transatlantic flight from Calgary to London Heathrow Airport, using a Douglas DC-8-32.

WestAir was the only airline in North America to fully own and operate the Concorde, as WestAir had placed orders for the Concorde in 1971 after Boeing had cancelled their 2707 SST program. WestAir flew their fleet of six Concordes from the mainland Western Republic to Asia and Oceania, via Honolulu, as well as from the mainland to Hawaii. Thus, Honolulu was nicknamed the "Concorde City", as it was the main hub for WestAir's Concorde fleet. WestAir operated the Concorde from 1977 to 2003.

In 1986, the owners of WestAir as well as Vancouver based, the third largest airline in the Western Republic at the time, agreed to merge into one larger company. The airline would keep the WestAir name, however a new logo and aircraft livery was announced. The merger was complete in early 1987. Shortly after, with the gained wealth from the merger, WestAir acquired Los Angeles based that same year, as well as Edmonton based  in 1989. In 1987, WestAir also purchased 85% of three regional airlines, those being Vancouver based, Lethbridge based , and Los Angeles based. All three regional airlines became connector airlines of WestAir.

In 1994, WestAir officially opened the new WestAir Museum in Airdrie, Alberta, just north of Calgary. The museum houses many aircraft throughout WestAir‘s history, including aircraft such as the Concorde and the DC-10, as well as several aircraft from former airlines which were absorbed into WestAir.

WestAir purchased the low cost carrier Western Skyways on February 29, 1996, however WestAir allowed Western Skyways to operate as a subsidiary of the company, rather than being absorbed into WestAir completely. Western Skyways’ regional subsidiary AirWR became the fourth connector airline of WestAir.

In 2002, WestAir announced that it would merge all four connector airlines to form a regional airline called WestAir Regional. WestAir Regional would operate in all regions of the country, rather than just smaller regions.

In 2017, WestAir announced that it would be launching its brand new ultra low cost subsidiary, in June of 2018. Swoop would operate a fleet of all Boeing 737s, and would be based out of Edmonton, and fly to destinations across North America. WestAir also announced that unlike Western Skyways' standard low cost airline model, Swoop would be based off of an ultra low cost airline model, with base fares having minimal inclusions as well as significantly cheaper prices than Western Skyways, however, each flight would include plenty of optional extra fees.

In January 2019, WestAir celebrated its 100th anniversary, becoming the first airline in history to reach this major milestone.

In November 2019, WestAir took delivery of its first of twenty VIP Boeing 737 MAX 9s, as well as its sole VIP Boeing 737 MAX 7, all of which would contain a full business class cabin. The sole MAX 7 would be used on a single route between Los Angeles and the London City Airport in England, and the twenty MAX 9s would be used primarily for sports charters.

Destinations
WestAir flies to over 200 destinations across 6 continents.

As of 2019, Los Angeles has the most WestAir flights out of any airport, by about 20%. Calgary is next on that list.

WestAir flights make up over 1/3 of the traffic of several major domestic airports, including, but not limited to, Los Angeles, Calgary, Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Edmonton, San Diego, Portland, Winnipeg, Salt Lake City, and Honolulu.

WestAir currently flies the longest route in the world, from Denver to Johannesburg, a distance of 15,416 km flown by the Boeing 777-200LR. WestAir is currently challenging Boeing to extend the range of the Boeing 777-8X to 17,000 km, so that WestAir can fly to Johannesburg from more domestic destinations including Los Angeles, Vancouver and Seattle.

Primary Hubs
WestAir has four primary hubs. These airports handle more WestAir traffic than any other airport.
 * Calgary Int'l Airport
 * Los Angeles Int'l Airport
 * Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport
 * Vancouver Int'l Airport

Secondary Hubs
WestAir has four secondary hubs. These airports handle high amounts of WestAir traffic, however not as much as WestAir's primary hubs.
 * Denver Int'l Airport
 * Las Vegas McCarran Int'l Airport
 * Phoenix Sky Harbor Int'l Airport
 * San Francisco Int'l Airport

Focus Cities
WestAir also has six focus cities. These airports handle quite a bit of WestAir traffic, however not near as much as WestAir's primary hubs. Toronto is WestAir's only international focus city.
 * Edmonton Int'l Airport
 * Honolulu Int'l Airport
 * Portland Int'l Airport
 * Salt Lake City Int'l Airport
 * San Diego Int'l Airport
 * Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport

Fleet
WestAir is a very busy airline and marks the second largest airline in the world in terms of passengers every year, with almost 190 million passengers every year. In that case, WestAir should definitely have a large fleet. WestAir has the second largest fleet in the world, consisting of over 900 aircraft, most of which are built by Boeing. Other aircraft, primarily built by other companies, are used for regional flights, with the exception of the A220-100.

Paint/Liveries
WestAir operates several aircraft in special liveries including heritage jets, special decals, and other liveries.

Partnerships
WestAir is partnered with Boeing, as well as some other airlines. WestAir is not affiliated with any airline alliance, due to the fact that WestAir has partners in multiple different alliances.

WestAir also sponsors national sports teams n the Western Republic, including the Western Republic National Football Team, the Western Republic Ice Hockey Team. WestAir also sponsors every major sports league in the Western Republic.

WestAir has naming rights for a couple of sports venues in the Western Republic, including the WestAir Centre in Calgary, and the WestAir Ballpark in Vancouver.

Codeshare Agreements
WestAir has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Joint Ventures
In addition to the codeshare agreements above, WestAir has also entered joint ventures with the following airlines:

Accidents and Incidents
WestAir is a regarded as one of the safest airlines in the world, with no fatal accidents since 1960. However, there have been several accidents since then, with no casualties on board.

WestAir Flight 38 & Global Air Cargo Flight 906
On the morning of November 18, 1992, over central Alberta, WestAir flight 38, a Boeing 747-400 was cruising at 41,000ft, heading from Seattle to London-Heathrow. At the controls of WestAir flight 38 were Captain Randall Morris and First Officer Morgan Robinson. The other two pilots on board, who were on break at the time were Isaac Ford and Clive Buckley. Meanwhile, cruising at the same altitude, was Global Air Cargo Flight 906, a Boeing 747-200F flying from Anchorage to Dallas. Edmonton air traffic controllers told Global Air Cargo 906 to descend to 38,000ft, due to oncoming traffic. As Global Air Cargo 906 had just began descending, out of nowhere, another aircraft appeared in front of it, which turned out to be WestAir 38, The pilots of Global Air Cargo 906 could not save their plane on time, as WestAir 38’s winglet scraped through the front of Global Air Cargo’s fuselage, causing it to snap off. Global Air Cargo 906 crashed just outside of Red Deer, Alberta, killing all 3 pilots on board. The collision resulted in WestAir 38's left aileron being punctured, making it unusable. WestAir 38 declared an emergency, and was instructed to divert to Calgary. Ford and Buckley rushed to the cockpit to assist Morris and Robinson on their emergency landing. Captain Morris of WestAir 38 made the decision against dumping fuel, as the pilots did not know the extent to which their wing was damaged, and so they determined that dumping fuel was potentially very risky. His decision not to dump fuel would result in a more difficult landing, as the pilots would have to land a near fully loaded 747. The flight successfully landed in Calgary 30 minutes after the collision. There were no casualties out of the 416 people on board WestAir 38.

The Western Transportation Safety Board (WTSB) determined the cause of the crash to be a simple miscommunication between the air traffic controllers and the Global Air Cargo pilots, which delayed flight 906's descent, causing the Global Air Cargo 747 to collide with the WestAir 747.

In March 1993, the Air Line Pilots Association awarded the four pilots with the Gold Medal Award for heroism, the highest award a civilian pilot can receive.

The WestAir Boeing 747-400 involved in the crash was repaired and re-entered service, and was in service with WestAir until 2017 when it retired. The Aircraft is currently stored at the WestAir Museum in Airdrie.

Travel Classes
WestAir has 4 travel classes; First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy Class.

First Class
WestAir has one of the highest rated first classes for an airline in the Western Hemisphere. Each first class pod resembles a small personal suite, with amenities such as an advanced inflight entertainment system, a reclining chair, a twin bed, as well as many other smaller features. First class can be found on the following aircraft:
 * Boeing 747-8
 * Boeing 777-200LR
 * Boeing 777-300ER
 * Boeing 777-8X (starting in 2021)
 * Boeing 777-9X (starting in late-2020)

Business Class
WestAir's business class is one of the highest rated in the world with very high ratings, as SkyTrax has awarded WestAir with the award of best business class seven times since 2000. Each business class pod features an advanced inflight entertainment system, a reclining chair, as well as many more smaller features. Business class can be found on the following aircraft:
 * Boeing 747-8
 * Boeing 767-300ER
 * Boeing 767-400ER
 * Boeing 777-200LR
 * Boeing 777-300ER
 * Boeing 777-8X (starting in 2020)
 * Boeing 777-9X (starting in late-2019)
 * Boeing 787-8
 * Boeing 787-9
 * Boeing 787-10

Premium Economy
WestAir has one of the highest rated premium economy classes as well. Each premium economy seat on WesAir's mainline fleet is equipped with a seat-back television and an advanced inflight entertainment system. WestAir got their brand new Economy Plus seats in 2015 on the Boeing 767-300ER, and is now on every aircraft owned by WestAir.

On WestAir Regional flights, WestAir's premium economy is just referred to as "Economy Plus", being standard economy seats with extra legroom.

Economy Class
WestAir has one of the highest rated economy classes in the world for any airline. Each economy seat on WesAir's mainline fleet is equipped with a seat-back television and an advanced inflight entertainment system. WestAir's economy class is found on every single aircraft owned by WestAir and WestAir Regional.

Inflight Entertainment
WestAir has a variety of inflight entertainment systems to chose from.

Inflight Wi-Fi
The WestAir's inflight wi-fi only works if the device being used for internet has the WestAir app downloaded onto it. Through the WestAir app, a number movies and TV shows are available to watch for free. Live sports events broadcasted live via the Western Broadcasting Corporation are also available. Full internet including websites such as YouTube, Google, etc. is also available, for relatively cheap prices. Inflight wi-fi is available on every aircraft.

VIP System
The VIP system is only available in business class and first class. It includes a television. On first class, the television comes with Netflix, Apple TV, and other entertainment systems and services. On business class, the TV comes with the same features as the WestAir app.

All business class passengers will get a 75% discount for the inflight wifi system, and all first class passengers will get free and full access to the inflight wi-fi.

SkyTrax Rating
In 2016, WestAir became the first airline in North America to receive a 5 star rating from SkyTrax.

Overall: 9/10

Food and Beverages: 4/5

Inflight Entertainment: 4/5

Seat Comfort: 4/5

Staff Service: 5/5

Value of Money: 4/5

Gallery

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