Airlines Partners of WestJet (updated February 26, 2024)
We noticed that one of our more popular posts was the one about Airlines Partners of WestJet. That being said, that post is fairly dated now (from 2015), so I thought I’d provide an update.
The only airline in Canada who is part of a major alliance is Air Canada. However, WestJet has quite a few valuable airline partners that makes them potentially just as valuable as Air Canada. Below is a list of partners, broken up between Code-Share and Interline. You will notice that, even though some partnerships discontinued from last time, overall WestJet has really expanded their list of partners since almost a decade ago. Some airlines also shifted between the two categories.
Code-Share
Code-share agreements allow passengers to book a destination that can be a combination or just another airline partner. Basically when booking a flight through WestJet or any of their code-share partners, you will be able to see each other’s flight options on the same itinerary. You will know it is code-share when you see the words “Operated by” on your itinerary.
The code-share agreement also allows passenger to choose to either earn WestJet dollars, or vice versa, frequent flyer partner rewards. Though keep in mind that the WestJet dollars earned through code-share partners will not count towards the annual qualifying spend requirement for elite status.
Below is a list of code-share partners, along with any changes from last time in brackets:
- Aeromexico (added)
- Air France
- Air Transat (added)
- Azores Airlines (added)
American Airlines(moved to interline)- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- China Airlines
- China Eastern Airlines
- China Southern Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Emirates (added)
- Hainan Airlines (added)
- Hong Kong Airlines (added)
- Japan Airlines
- KLM
- Korean Air
- LATAM Airlines (added)
- Philippine Airlines
- Qantas
- Virgin Atlantic (added)
- Xiamen Air (added)
Interline
An interline agreement allow passengers to travel across this network of airlines with the convenience of a single reservation. This essentially makes it easier for passengers obtaining their boarding passes and check baggage to the final destination. You will notice that this list is different from the one above, because it does not allow the ability to earn rewards of each other. Air Transat is the only exemption who shows up on both since they do not have a frequent flyer program.
Below is a list of interline partners, along with any changes from last time in brackets:
- Aer Lingus (added)
Aeromexico(moved to code-share)- Air China
- Air New Zealand
- Air Tahiti Nui (added)
- Air Transat (added)
Alaska Airlines- Alitalia
- American Airlines (added)
Asiana Airlines- British Airways (added)
- Canadian North
- Central Mountain Air
- Condor
- Dragonair
- EL AL
Emirates(moved to code-share)- Etihad
- Eva Air (added)
- Fiji Airways
- Finnair
- First Air
Hainan Airlines(moved to code-share)- Icelandair
Jet AirwaysLAN Airlines- LOT Polish Airlines (added)
- Pacific Coastal Airlines (added)
- Pakistan International Airlines
- PAL Airlines (added)
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
SATA InternationalTAM Airlines- TAP Portugal (added)
Transaero Airlines- Tunisair (added)
- Ukraine International Airlines (added)
- United Airlines (added)
US Airways- Virgin Australia
Conclusion
I wrote this sentence back in 2015: “I actually hope that one day WestJet will become a member of Oneworld or SkyTeam instead of having so many different separate agreements.”
Fast forward to 2024, I am a little torn by this thought now. On the one hand, WestJet being part of a major airline alliance has the potential to elevate their status even more on the world stage. On the other hand, seeing how much they have grown their partnerships, it just shows that being independent means they can be more flexible on what partnerships that they create.
What would you rather WestJet do? Stay independent or join a major airline alliance? Please let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!