David McCaig, President and C.O.O. of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) announced that ACTA has successfully concluded a series of meetings with WestJet resulting in an increase in commissions for the travel agency community. WestJet announced that it will be increasing the commissions paid to travel agents from the previously announced four per cent to seven per cent effective July 1, 2009.  Prior to July 1, 2009, commissions will be nine per cent.

Duncan Bureau, WestJet’s Vice-President, Sales and Airline Partnerships said, “In discussions with ACTA on behalf of its membership, we believe this new commission structure recognizes the valuable contributions of our travel agent partners while acknowledging that in this economic environment WestJet must aggressively pursue cost-saving initiatives. WestJet thanks ACTA and its members for their candid feedback.

“WestJet’s success has been built through the solid support of the travel agent community,” continued Duncan Bureau, “and this announcement today is a demonstration of our willingness to listen and support our trade partners.”

David McCaig stated, “ACTA has lobbied for the reinstatement of these commissions and we are pleased that the management team at WestJet was willing to review the benefits of the travel agency distribution model. This demonstrates that WestJet understands the needs of both its guests and the travel agencies that serve them.”