Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Ends Deal with WestJet (TSE:WJA)

Saying they would rather keep the existing agreement with WestJet (TSE:WJA) in place, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) terminated their travel agreement with the Canadian airline rather than agree to new terms presented by the company.

Southwest Executive Vice President of Strategy and Planning Bob Jordan said in a statement, "We prefer the existing terms of our agreement with WestJet.” Southwest added that the changes were not just small ones, but "significant" in nature, and evidently changes they won't comply with.

The agreement between the two airlines were in reference to connecting services between the United States and Canada. This is a blow to WestJet, which has been counting on deals like this to grow its presence in America.

Both companies said they're not giving up on the markets they're targeting, but will look at other ways of serving them, including agreements with other airlines, or, as in the case of Southwest Airlines, possibly flying direct routes to Canada itself.
 
Southwest also said they may enter into other code-sharing agreements with other Canadian airlines in the future.

Jordan said there were just too many changes in the existing agreement for the company to go forward with WestJet.