WestJet links with Emirates

Article Excerpt

WESTJET AIRLINES $12.60 (Toronto symbol WJA; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (1-877-493-7853; www.westjet.com; Shares outstanding: 139.4 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; No dividends paid) has just signed an interline agreement with Dubai’s Emirates airline. Under these agreements, two airlines cooperate on flights and baggage handling. WestJet has similar arrangements with Air France, China Airways of Taiwan, China Eastern, Alitalia, Korean Air, Australia’s Qantas Airlines, Japan Airlines, Hong Kong-based Dragonair and El Al Israel. Interline deals can become code-sharing agreements. These are similar to interline pacts, but they also let airlines sell seats and move luggage under their own names onto another carrier’s flights. WestJet has codesharing deals with Cathay Pacific, KLM and American Airlines. WestJet, our Stock Pickers Digest “Stock of the Year for 2011,” is still a buy. buy…