WestJet Encore

WestJet Encore is a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta that operates feeder flights for WestJet, owned by the same parent company WestJet Airlines, Ltd.

WestJet Encore was formed in 2013 to allow the increased frequency of flights using smaller aircraft and to expand service to routes with less traffic, following internal market studies about future growth limitations by WestJet Airlines operating only Boeing 737 aircraft. Originally launching as a feeder airline for the mainline WestJet network out of WestJet hubs in Calgary and Toronto (and providing other regional and commuter flights, e.g. Halifax to Sydney, NS or Edmonton to Kelowna), the airline was refocused on Western Canada in 2021, with all service east of Thunder Bay cancelled.

The airline operates a fleet of 41 De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft. WestJet Encore is the largest operator of the Q400 in the world, after the bankruptcy of Flybe and the retirement of the type by Horizon Air.

The airline was initially staffed with non-union employees, but the pilots and cabin crew have since unionized. Crew bases are maintained in Calgary and Toronto, with all Toronto-based crew members requiring deadheading to access the route network out west. WestJet Encore participates in the WestJet Rewards, a revenue-based frequent flyer program that offers flight discount rewards.