Swoop staff and Stripes
1/7WestJet's new Swoop airline won't provide commissions to agents, but does that mean agents can't find a way to increase revenue by selling the product should their client base demand it? Charging a service fee for handling the booking would be the likely place to start.
Swoop president and CEO Steven Greenway, a veteran of European and Asian low-cost airlines, told TravelPulse Canada that agents years ago stopped making major commissions on the sale of airline tickets.
"For the most part, for short haul travel … there's really nothing to be had," he said at the Swoop media event in Hamilton, Ontario on Tuesday. "My argument is that the air fare is a hook; it gets the person from A to B. But it's what the person does at B that counts. It's the land, the transfers, the activities; all these things that still have a nice margin for travel agents too enjoy."
Cruising is a great example, Greenway said. A customer probably doesn't care how they get to a ship's home port for their cruise, so they'll take a cheap air ticket. But they might want to spend that savings on a nice cruise experience, which an agent can make good money selling.
Greenway spoke to TravelPulse Canada on the tarmac at Hamilton International (John C. Munro) Airport yesterday during a morning ceremony that marks the company's first flight; a scheduled 5:45 a.m. departure from Hamilton to Abbotsford, B.C. on Wednesday, June 20.
With average prices around $100 and five airports in Canada (for now), Swoop 's aim is to make travel "easy, accessible and affordable," Greenway told a large crowd at YHM.
"This is the start of what I think is a travel revolution," he said, one that will allow Canadians to see more of their own country and more of the world.
For now, Swoop will fly in and out of Hamilton, Abbotsford, Halifax, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Greenway said they'll be up to 90 flights a week later this summer and hope to soon announce their first international flights.
He said obvious sun destinations such as the Dominican Republic and Mexico could work for winter flights, as well as Florida. So don't be surprised to see Orlando or perhaps the Tampa Bay area show up on the Swoop website later this summer.
"We also want to be a little more adventurous," he said. "That's what a ULCC does; it opens up new markets. That's what we're doing in Hamilton today."
Greenway said the pitch for most seats is 29 to 30 inches; making for a reasonably comfortable ride. Bulk head seats and seats in higher classes of fares have still more room.
The planes Swoop is using are two-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft that came from WestJet, he said.
I went online yesterday and found flights from Hamilton to Abbotsford for $149 to $199 one-way. I saw flights from Hamilton to Halifax from $119, although most were $149 or $179 one-way. The company website was showing most tickets on flights from Abbotsford to Edmonton for $49, although I spotted one for $39 and another for $69.
