Faced with a slow economy, the highly cyclical airline industry finds itself looking at a number of challenges. Here’s how one of the prominent Canadians stocks in the field has been coping. WestJet Airlines Ltd., symbol WJA on Toronto, reported that its load factor rose to 83.3% in August 2011 from 82.2% in August 2010. Load factor is the percentage of available seats that are occupied by paying passengers. More important, the rise came despite the fact that the company increased its capacity by 6.2% to meet higher demand. Revenue passenger miles (the total number of paying passengers on each plane multiplied by the distance travelled in miles) rose 7.7% from August 2010. The company also announced a new record over the past month. The airline flew a total of 1.49 million passengers in August 2011; that was the highest monthly total in WestJet’s history.
Canadian stocks: Code share agreements add to WestJet’s overseas flight
Earlier this year, WestJet signed code-sharing agreements with Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airlines and American Airlines. This allows the airline to sell seats and move luggage under its own name onto flights by American and Cathay. This significantly expands WestJet’s capacity to offer flights into overseas markets. We updated our advice on WestJet and other Canadian stocks in our September 9, 2011, Stock Pickers Digest hotline, which you can immediately view when you take a 1-month free trial to Stock Pickers Digest. Click here to learn how you can start profiting from Stock Pickers Digest right away. (Note: If you are a current Stock Pickers Digest subscriber, please click here to view Pat’s recommendation. Be sure to log in first.)
