WestJet Prepares for Global Expansion

Airline welcomes three new senior leaders to the team

CALGARY, Jan. 11, 2018 /CNW/ - WestJet today announced three new vice-presidents will be joining the senior leadership team. Gandeephan Ganeshalingam joins as Vice-President, Lean and Continuous Improvement, Stuart McDonald as Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer and Scott Groh as Vice-President, Crew Resources.

"I am pleased to welcome Gandeephan, Stuart and Scott to the WestJet leadership team," said Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO. "As we continue on our path to becoming a global, full-service carrier, the additional bench strength provided by our newest leaders is key to this exciting initiative."

Gandeephan joins WestJet February 19, from GE Canada, where he most recently served as Chief Innovation Officer. There, he supported WestJet on several initiatives including an artificial intelligence project to improve dispatch reliability for WestJet's Boeing 767s.  Prior to joining GE, Gandeephan led the Continuous Improvement (CI) team for Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 manufacturing company. He was a key member of the leadership team that successfully introduced Lean and CI concepts across the organization. Gandeephan holds a P.Eng degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Stuart McDonald will be Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer when he starts with WestJet on January 29. With 25 years of global IT leadership experience, Stuart most recently served as Vice-President, Strategic Initiatives, and Vice-President, Employee Enablement at TD Bank.  Prior to his time at TD, Stuart held leadership roles in the technology and telecom industries in Hong Kong and Australia, including two years with Cathay Pacific as Head of Enterprise Programs. Stuart holds an Honours Bachelor of Computer Science from University of Technology Sydney and will work with WestJet to build out the global technology footprint needed to meet the airline's expansion plans.

Scott Groh joined WestJet, January 3, in the role of Vice-President, Crew Resources. Scott most recently worked for Qatar Airways as Senior Vice-President, Crew Resources, Flight Operations. Scott also held the position of Vice-President, Crew Resources for Etihad Airways for nine years and has more than 30 years of experience in crew planning, and crew scheduling operations. Scott's experience with a complex fleet mix and schedule network involving more than 200 aircraft, 3,500 pilots, and 11,000 cabin crew members with full-service global airlines will help WestJet prepare for the challenges and opportunities of deploying its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet and global network plans. Scott is a graduate of Georgian College in the Aviation Management program.

Gandeephan will report to Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO. Stuart will report to Craig Maccubbin, WestJet Executive Vice-President and Chief Information Officer and Scott will report to Cam Kenyon, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Operations.

About WestJet
WestJet is proud to be named Best Airline in Canada and one of the best Low Cost Airlines in North America, based on authentic reviews from the travelling public on Trip Advisor, the world's largest travel site. We are one of very few airlines globally that does not commercially overbook. Together with our regional airline, WestJet Encore, we offer scheduled service to more than 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe and to more than 175 destinations in over 20 countries through our airline partnerships. WestJet Vacations offers affordable, flexible vacations to more than 60 destinations and the choice of more than 800 hotels, resorts, condos and villas.  Members of the WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of flights and vacations packages to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods, and have access to Member Exclusive fares offering deals to WestJet destinations throughout our network and those of our partner airlines.

WestJet is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol WJA. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.  

Recent recognition includes:
2017 Five-Star Airline in the Low-Cost Category (The Airline Passenger Experience Association)
2017/2016 Canada's Most Trusted Airline (Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria)
2017 Best Airline in Canada and Travellers' Choice Winner Mid-Sized and Low Cost Airlines – North America (TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice awards for Airlines)
2016 Canada's most reputable company for Corporate Social Responsibility (Reputation Institute)
2016/2015/2014/2013/2012 Ranked top three for Canadian Brands (Canadian Business Magazine)
2016/2015/2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (MoneySense magazine)
2015/2011/2010/2008/2007/2006/2005 Canada's Most Admired Corporate Culture (Waterstone Human Capital)
2015 Best Employers in Canada (Aon Hewitt)

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SOURCE WestJet