Benefits Of Working For Westjet

Want to work for Westjet?  Why not!?  Winner of the 2012 Randstad Award for Canada’s Most Attractive Employer and voted to have a pleasant work environment by over 7,000 Canadians, Westjet has one of Canada’s “most admired corporate cultures”.  (www.westjet.com) 

They provide room for advancement, continued education, training and developing and offer flexible shifts so their employees can not only work but rest and play as well.

Westjet’s offers excellent employee benefits including: 

• Employee Share Purchase Plan:  staff can purchase up to 20% of their gross salary in Westjet shares and the company matches their contributions.
• Unlimited Discounted Travel:  Staff get 50% discount passes and can share with their friends and family.
• Employee Development: Staff are encouraged to partake in career planning courses, in-house apprenticeship programs, online skills inventory and professional accreditation.

 As mentioned earlier, I talked about how Westjet has their environmentally friendly new head office in Calgary that houses over 1,000 employees.  Not only does Westjet offer a clean environment but also a high tech fitness facility where employees can also partake in various aerobics and yoga classes; employee lounge areas with music, televisions, video and board games on every floor, a cafeteria providing healthy meals and also a nap room.

This is a company that many people, including myself, would love to work for.  From being a former travel agent, I always had a great experience working with the Westjet Customer Service Team to help me make my clients enjoy the Westjet experience.  Not only were they friendly and provided excellent customer service, but they also left my clients happy not only with their booking but with their travels on Canada's best airline.

Sheryl Smolkin. (2012). Why Westjet Is A Great Employer.  Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2012/06/12/why_westjet_is_a_great_employer.html

Westjet Works With The Communities

Westjet works and supports tons of charities and fundraisers.  Earlier, I mentioned Westjet Cares For Kids and how you can apply to have Westjet support your charity or fundraising event, as well, 2 of the charities that Westjet supports (Hope Air & Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Canada).  

Here are some more great charities that Westjet supports in a nutshell. (since they have so many great charities they work with, might as well put them all together in one shot!) 

Since 2004, Westjet and Missing Children Society of Canada are always on the search to find the missing.  Westjet has provided gifts of flight to the detectives who travel all over Canada and Internationally, as well to those families reuniting with their loved ones.  Sadly, there are more than 50,000 missing children in Canada alone each year.  Some are resolved and many are still out there.

WestJet and the Missing Children Society of Canada are continuing the search for missing children.  Retired police detectives help investigate the cases of the missing.  MCSC is the only non-profit organization that has a team of in-house retired detectives in North America.  MCSC's Peer Support program also provides emotional support to those dealing with a missing loved one, free of charge.  For more information, visit www.mcsc.ca.

Westjet also provides the gift of flight to those who have a travel wish grant for activities through Westjet Cares for Kids for Make-A-Wish Canada.  Westjet also went as far to customize a special wish experience for all the children and their loved ones travelling on Canada's favourite airline.

Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has helped make over 200,000 wishes come true for children worldwide.  They serve over 36 countries and grant wishes to children with life threatening conditions between the ages of 3 and 17 to spend time with their families, to dream and to make miracles happen.

For more information, visit www.makeawish.ca.

Westjet helps support Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada by donating flights to support families and fundraising events through the Westjet Cares for Kids program.

RMHC is a children's charity that is dedicated to supporting families with children with serious disability or illness when they really need it.  RMHC helps these families through each Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room Program and other children's charities.  RMHC has totalled over $57 million to children's charities and over 2,000 grants have been awarded which help thousands of children and families in their communities.

For more information, visit www.rmhc.ca.

Westjet helps support Beyond Borders ECPAT Canada.  Beyond Borders is a bilingual, volunteer organization that help support the rights of children to be free from sexual abuse and exploitation.  They raise awareness, advocate for improved legisltion, monitor court cases, promote and support prevention and protection plans and intervening in court cases to provide a voice for the victims.  Beyond Borders also provides training and education to the children in need.

To learn more, please visit www.beyondborders.org. 

Westjet and Hope Air

Westjet is dedicated to not only Westjetters but also to those who cannot afford to travel and need emergency medical care outside of their community.  

Westjet proudly works with Hope Air.  It costs a lot to travel and for the specialized doctors and technology.

20% of Hope Air clients would cancel their appointments due to the high costs of flying to the cities where there is medical hope.  Some would have to borrow money or find ways by dipping into their budgets.   Westjet will help these individuals by donating the “gift of flight” to Hope Air.  This supports their programs and services.

As always, Westjet welcomes Hope Air clients and provides them with a friendly, caring and stress free flight experience with a smile.

To learn more about Hope Airs visit their website www.hopeair.ca.

Westjet and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada

As mentioned earlier, one charity that Westjet Cares for Kids supports is Big Brother Big Sisters of Canada.  The Westjet Reconnection Program helps “re-unite Little Brothers and Sisters with loved ones living in distant parts of the country” (www.westjet.com)

Westjet supports this charity through fundraising, alumni relations to recruiting volunteers.  This year, Westjets Financial and sponsorship will help BBBSOC hold their Youth Leadership Summit in Ottawa.  Tons of former Little Brothers and Sisters will gather together from across Canada to learn and teach.

BBBSOF leads in providing children and youth mentors and offers the traditional matching brothers and sisters program.  They have over 122 agencies in over 1,000 communities across Canada.  They service over 30,000 children in the country.

For more information on Big Brother Big Sisters of Canada, please visit their website www.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca

A Culture Of Caring Goes Beyond The Aircrafts

As part of Westjet’s caring culture and their Responsible Growth program, they are also investing their ideas into two community programs.  Westjet Cares For Kids and Westjetters Caring For Our Community are where Westjet owners are encouraged to become more active in giving back to the communities.

Yes, Westjet does care and wants you to see they also care about helping out the communities.  Supporting charities and non-profit organizations, they serve with “in-kind (non-cash) gift-of-flight donation to be used for fundraising purposes”. (http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/about/community-investment/index.shtml)

Westjet also has requests to support events, programs and organizations and if you are interested to have Westjet as a supporter of your event you can use their online request tool.  This allows you or your organization to let them know what your project is all about and how your group/event/organization will benefit from their support.   The questions asked are the same for everyone.  This makes it more effective and they can make quicker decisions due to the high volume requests received each year.

 Unfortunately, there are a few requests that Westjet cannot support:

• Financial support.
• Supporting political or religious events/organizations.
• Individuals raising money independently for an event/organization. (racers, bikers, runners)
• Third-party fundraising events/organizations without approval from the actual organization.
• Individuals wanting assistance for personal travel to conferences, training/learning programs, contests or competitions.
• Appreciation events where tickets will be awarded to individuals that get recognition for their hard work.

If your event/organization is interested in having Westjet as a supporter, please visit their website http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/about/community-investment/index.shtml and ensure you read the instructions before submitting our request.   You always want to be prepared with the proper information you need.

Westjet always wishes you success with your event and thanks you for thinking of them!

Westjet's Commitment To Green - Supporting The Environment

Every company wants to ensure they are doing the best they can to help be environmentally friendly.  This is another part of Westjet’s Responsible Growth program. 

“Burning aviation fuel to operate our aircraft releases greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.” (http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/about/environment/index.shtml) 

To ensure their fleet operates in a most controlled and direct way to help reduce toxins, they have put together their own Greenhouse Gas Environmental Policy Statement.

The policy focuses on 4 core principles:

1.     Invest in fuel-efficient jet aircrafts.

2.     Invest in technology and procedures that enable Westjet to maximize operating efficiency and safety.

3.     Invest in infrastructure to reduce the environmental footprint of their ground operations.

4.     Work in good faith with government agencies and regulators to develop rules and policies that further drive their operating efficiency and their ability to grow sustainability.

 (http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/about/environment/index.shtml) 

Westjet has spent over $2 billion on their fleet and currently have the most fuel-efficient Boeing 737 series fleets.  The fuel efficiency on the current 737 (600, 700 and 800 series) is about 15-30% lower per seat than the 737 (200 series) they had earlier in 2000-2003.  That shows a great investment to help minimize their emissions.

Winglets (wing-tip extensions) have also been installed to help lower fuel consumption up to 2.7% per flight.  The new series of aircrafts are already equipped with winglets.

Not only is Westjet greener in the skies but also on the ground.  The Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System and Westjet built the Calgary campus.  Something things that new campus highlights are:

·       Gathering recycled carpets, flooring of renewable materials, countertops from recycled glass, doors made from sustainable wood

·       Shower/change rooms and bicycle storages to help promote a healthy and alternate commute than vehicles

·       Reduces water consumption by capturing rainwater to use for landscaping

·       Light-Pollution reduction measures

·       External geothermal piping to access and store heating/cooling energy from the earth

·       Heating, ventilation and AC system that uses up to date technologies to confirm energy efficiency.

·       Every Westjetters works in an open workstation with access to natural light on all floors.  (Right to Light Philosophy)

·       Measuring and verifying performance

·       Construction materials are sourced and selected on higher recycled content

 (http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/about/environment/index.shtml) 

Not only does Westjet care about their guests, but also of the earth.

Do you wish your company was more environmentally friendly like how Westjet is?  

Introducing one of Canada's best airlines

When you think of a great Canadian airliner, the first company that comes to mind is Air Canada.  But when you think of a great Canadian airliner that provides excellent customer service, Westjet is that airliner.

Clive Beddoe and his team of partners did not believe in “you get what you paid for” when purchasing your flights.  In 1996, Clive and his like-minded partners founded Westjet.  Starting off with only three aircrafts, a 5-destination route and 220 friendly Westjetters, the company started its journey.  That journey increased the company’s “employees” (Westjetters) from 220 to 8,800, destination routes from 5 within Canada to 80 including North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Not only do they want to enrich the lives of their Guests (passengers), they also do so with their Westjetters (employees).

Westjet continues their effort towards Responsible Growth.  This is where they ensure that all Westjetters are trained to enrich the lives of everyone in our world by providing safe, friendly and affordable air travel. http://www.westjet.com/pdf/responsible-growth-en.pdf

In their ads, they mean what they say “Owners Care.”  Even though their aircrafts fly guests to places, it’s their Westjetters that get them there.  Not only did they claim the top spot in Waterstone’s study of Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 4 years, Westjet was also:

•  Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. http://www.waterstonehc.com/
•  In 2011, J.D. Power designated Westjet a Customer Service Champion and was the only airliner to make the list. http://canada.jdpower.com/
• Aon Hewitt’s ranked them in 3^rd as the best employers in Canada. http://www.aon.com/canada
•  Flightnetwork.com chose them as the Canadian airline with the best flight attendants. http://www.flightnetwork.com/ 

They value:

•  Safety Commitment
• Passionate and extremely positive in all they do
• Very appreciative of their Guests and Westjetters
• Include Westjetters interests with the interests of the company
• Honest, open and is a company that keeps their commitments
•  Is Fun, Friendly and Caring.

All in all, Westjet is simply Canada’s preferred airline.