Global deals are a big plus

Article Excerpt

WESTJET AIRLINES $18.00 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1- 877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 126.3 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%) is now in the process of upgrading its interline agreement with British Airways to a full code-sharing arrangement. This will be WestJet’s eighth code-sharing deal. Code-sharing agreements let airlines sell seats on one another’s planes using the same two-digit code. In this case, the BA code will be used when travellers on British Airways flights to Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto connect to WestJet-operated flights to Ottawa, Edmonton and Victoria. Code-sharing agreements are especially valuable for attracting business passengers because they let customers seamlessly connect between flights and gain frequent flyer points for the entire distance travelled. Over the past year, WestJet has also signed code-sharing deals with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern Airlines, Delta Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM and Korean Air. WestJet is still a buy. buy…