Thebean Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/hurricane-odile-westjet-offers-final-evacuation-flight-to-calgary-1.2772056Friday's flight to Calgary which was open to all stranded Canadians at no charge left Los Cabos around 3:30 p.m. MT to pick up passengers in Mazatlan. The flight is expected to land in Calgary around 8:30 p.m. MT.https://flightaware.com/live/flight/WJA4821 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 WestJet offers final evacuation flight to CalgaryThe airline has filled two planes with passengers who were stuck in the vacation destination of Los Cabos following the devastation Hurricane Odile inflicted on Mexico's Baja peninsula. ......................Sunwing Airlines also sent two planes earlier in the week to pick up travellers stranded in Mexico.My first thought was "Good for Westjet". But there's obviously more going on here than good reporting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chockalicious Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Obviously more going on...just like the time there was a hurricane in CUN and they evacuated people including non WS guests...obviously more going on like the time they brought people who were not originally WS guests home free of charge when there was the explosion at the resort in CUN... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEFCON Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 I'm not picking on WJ alone here as virtually all corporations tend to engage in rescues of various sorts that appear to be motivated by humanist concerns. In that regard, I've always wondered if there's really any 'from the bottom of the heart' type of good going on when these sorts of corporate interventions take place, or is the corporatocracy just seizing the moment to position itself in a manner that makes it look good in the eyes of the public and perhaps translate the experience into an uptick in market share? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebean Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 Had there been a press releases such as this.....http://finance.yahoo.com/news/invitation-media-photo-opportunity-departure-190700843.html.....announcing the flights, your concern would be legitimate. In this case, and many others you'll never hear about, and at both airlines, this sort of stuff occurs more than you'd think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Interesting.... they have changed the headline on that story from the one that was there (that I posted above) to: Hurricane Odile: Final evacuation flight from Los Cabos arrives in CalgaryAnd they have moved the Sunwing reference farther up in the story. Even though they didn't issue a press release, it's still hard to believe that WJ didn't make a call to someone to let them know how good they were. Especially when a WJ spokesman is quoted and then he does a bit more self-back-patting by telling the reporter that they transported 4000 bottles of water and juice down. If they were truly doing it solely for humanitarian reasons, they would simply have confirmed that the flights took place... nothing about transporting people free of charge to their destinations, nothing about juice and water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebean Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 What a hard boiled bunch you are...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp fa Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 What a hard boiled bunch you are......Okay then. I guess I won't ask how much they were charged for their bags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Okay then. I guess I won't ask how much they were charged for their bags.The flight was free, bags were $25. Rules are rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YYCMatt Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 The flight was free, bags were $25. Rules are rules. Actually, unlike AC, bags to and from Mexico are still free on WS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 YYZ to Ixtapa next week.... AC $640 WJ $749 .... Room for 4 bags in that fare.YYC to Ixtapa AC $420, WJ $534. Room for 4 bags in that fare, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YYCMatt Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 WS doesn't even fly to ZIH in September. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Must be a partner then. I found the fare on cheapoair. Just picked a Mexican destination and it produced a result.Notwithstanding my impression of grandstanding, it was an excellent gesture on the part of both Westjet and Sunwing to get Canadians out of the way of that storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deicer Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 On a related note...The question I have, is how much of a tax write off does the company get when they engage in 'charitable' acts such as this?And does it help with the profit/loss numbers at year end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebean Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 On a related note...The question I have, is how much of a tax write off does the company get when they engage in 'charitable' acts such as this?And does it help with the profit/loss numbers at year end?Unless it is a registered charity, which it isn't, nada. Once the CRA opens that door, look out. You'd have people who buy a burger and give the fries away to a homeless guy wanting to write off the fries as a charitable donation. It may be really difficult for some of the lefty "big business is bad" crowd to comprehend, but most businesses out there donate substantial amounts of shareholders money to charitable endeavors. Whether or not ""rescuing stranded" Canadians on holiday in Mexico should even be considered a charitable act is a whole other question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 I think it's worth noting that it's not a "business" or a "corporation" that makes these decisions... at the very heart of it, it was a person that made the decision to offer those rescue flights for free. A human being. Good for him. If his decision results in applause or criticism, he will bear the responsibility for that. I think this decision would be made mostly for humanitarion purposes... and if they get some good press out of it, that's a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inchman Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 On a related note...The question I have, is how much of a tax write off does the company get when they engage in 'charitable' acts such as this?And does it help with the profit/loss numbers at year end?Basically, the actual cost of the flights (fuel, crew if they're getting paid) is written off just as any business expense. There's just no revenue. This is the same as if a business donated any service to a charity. They can't write off the expense and then claim the charitable donation. They could, I suppose, transfer the expense to a charitable donation account so that they have a record of the donation.If they were able to claim a charitable donation as well as the expense, that would be double dipping, especially since charitable donations (cash given directly to a charity) are fully expensed for businesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebean Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/r-e-p-e-t-110000616.htmlWow. Transat is pretty keen on getting some media attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60N30W Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/r-e-p-e-t-110000616.htmlWow. Transat is pretty keen on getting some media attention.Bean, it is not just your beloved WS that has a bit of charity.Something wrong that AIR TRANSAT helped out some stranded sailors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebean Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 The point being made is one company sent out press releases to advise the media of their charity, the other didn't. Therein lies the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEFCON Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Come on now Bean; the individual stories are products of completely different circumstances; you're attempting to spin a positive for WJ by making an apples to oranges comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebean Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 There's a pretty big difference. One company chose not to proactively pursue publicity when it could very easily have done so, the other proactively did. No one is arguing the validity of end result. It illustrates a philosophical difference in the way of doing things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fido Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Did WestJet fly down to Cabo just to see if there were any Canadians hanging around the airport or were they making a regular run to pick up returning 'guests' and then filled any empty seats with other airlines customers who were available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakelad Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 It illustrates a philosophical difference in the way of doing things.Yeah, we know - the strong, silent type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebean Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Did WestJet fly down to Cabo just to see if there were any Canadians hanging around the airport or were they making a regular run to pick up returning 'guests' and then filled any empty seats with other airlines customers who were available?The issue is not why the flight was operated. The point being discussed are the differing PR philosophies. WJ chose not to issue a press release advertising that it was prepared to fly back any Canadian needing a ride back to Canada from SJD, even a customer that may have flown down on a competing airline, gratis. They could quite easily have issued a release on Canada Newswire announcing this very generous offer. They didn't. As it happens, the last flight apparently came back about 2/3 empty. Transat chose to issue two press releases to advise the media of their philanthropic activities to proactively procure a media story. Different strokes for different folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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