Pink Couch Podcast: Behind the Scenes of the Travel Industry

To mark its 30th anniversary, WestJet Group Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer John Weatherill sat down with Nina Slawek for a wide-ranging talk on the carrier’s beginnings at a time when many failed. On proposals to open Canada’s domestic market: “Very detrimental.” On air pricing: “It costs half as much to travel domestically in this country as it did 30 years ago.” On the decision to reduce seat pitch: “A step too far.” Those topics — and more — were all on the table.

On location in PVR, TTI’s Rocky Racco provides an overview of the gap between perception and reality: “Everything is extremely tranquil, very inviting.” He adds that “part of our trusted advisor relationship is making sure we share with our clients the real reality of what's happening.”

When fuel shortages forced airlines to pull half a million Cuba seats overnight, Sunwing Vacations’ went into overdrive. President Andrew Dawson suddenly found himself at the helm of the huge operation to reschedule bookings — amid growing demand, shrinking capacity, and rising prices.

Toronto-based advisor Patricia Whelan is no stranger to thinking on her feet. Whether it’s changing plans because of a hurricane-hit destination wedding or chartering a last-minute private jet for clients, she credits her five-star hospitality background for carving out a niche in high-end leisure and business travel.

According to Trevello CEO Zeina Gedeon, since the COVID experience, “everybody now wants to be a travel advisor” and the industry is attracting a new breed of business people. “We are learning from them!”

Anna Judek, owner of Virtuoso-affiliated Zebrano Travel, says the key to working with high net worth travellers is understanding how they evaluate value, weigh trade-offs, and make decisions. For advisors, that means treating travel planning like a boardroom calculation. “An Excel spreadsheet is your friend,” she says.

Porter’s President Kevin Jackson shares successes from this winter’s sun routes along with a 20% increase for the summer, with a major focus on regional routes. “Despite what you've seen, there's still a lot to go. The duopoly is no longer going to be two carriers,” he said.

Tom Stevens, VP Customer Experience and Service Operations at Air Canada, provides background on airline safety precautions during a blizzard and walks through the operational challenges of managing a global network of aircraft while keeping the runways clear. “The best way to clear the snow is to make sure the concrete has nothing on it.”

After 37 years in the biz, Denise Luciani from Marlin Travel asked herself what she wanted for her future. The answer was: “to bring great people into the industry”. Denise shares how over the last 18 months she’s reinvented a host agency model.

With global uncertainty on the rise, Sunwing’s Eric Rodriguesz tells Nina that Cuba remains safe, fully operational, and one of the Caribbean’s best value escapes for Canadian travellers.