Airline expands capacity to serve French-speaking guests.
CALGARY – WestJet announced it will open a contact centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, to enhance service for its French-speaking guests. The new facility will open in September 2016, and over the next four years will create more than 400 primarily home-based jobs, two-thirds of which will be full time.
“We’ve always taken our responsibility to provide our signature friendly, caring and stress-free service in both of Canada’s official languages seriously,” said Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO. “A second call centre based in Canada’s only officially bilingual province, in a city known as a centre of excellence for Business Services Centres, will allow us to provide additional hours of service for our French-speaking guests.”
“We are pleased that WestJet has chosen New Brunswick to expand its east coast presence,” said Premier Brian Gallant. “The number of jobs that are not tied to a physical location is growing rapidly across Canada. Our bilingual and highly skilled workforce has made New Brunswick a leader in the Business Services Centre industry and we are ideally positioned to capitalize on this growth.”
Opportunities NB will contribute a $1 million forgivable loan and up to $2.5 million in payroll rebates for a $62 million return on investment. Once the jobs are created, the annual provincial GDP is expected to increase by $24 million. The total WestJet payroll in New Brunswick over the first six years is expected to be $34 million.
Moncton was WestJet’s first destination in Atlantic Canada, launching service in April 2000. Since 2013, the airline has doubled its departures and increased seat capacity to and from the city by 67 per cent. In the peak summer months, WestJet flies twice daily between Moncton and Toronto, with non-stop weekly service to Cancun and Orlando in the winter. In 2015, the airline launched twice-daily service from Fredericton to Toronto, adding a third flight earlier this year.
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