WestJet teams up with Delta

Article Excerpt

WESTJET AIRLINES $14.65 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 145.1 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%) is upgrading its “interline” agreement with Delta Air Lines to a full “code sharing” arrangement. WestJet signed an interline agreement with Delta in February 2011. Under these agreements, airlines co-operate on flights and baggage handling. But under a “code sharing” agreement, WestJet can also sell seats and move luggage onto Delta flights. That will let it serve more cities without having to add flights of its own. Code-sharing agreements are especially valuable for attracting business passengers. That’s because these agreements let customers seamlessly connect between flights and gain extra frequent-flyer points. WestJet, our Stock Pickers Digest “Stock of the Year for 2011,” is still a buy. buy…