WestJet has reported full-year net earnings of $283.6 million, or $2.42 per diluted share, which compares with net earnings of $295.5 million, or $2.45 per diluted share reported in the full-year 2016. During the fourth quarter, net earnings reached $48.5 million, or $0.42 per diluted share compared to $55.2 million, or $0.47 per diluted share reported in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Passenger numbers during the fourth quarter of 2017 rose by 10.8% to 6.01million, compared to 5.86m in the fourth quarter of 2017. Load factor rose by 2.4 percentage points to 82.6%.
For the full year 2017, WestJet carried 24.04m passengers, an increase of 10% over the past year, with the load factor up by 1.8ppts to 83.6%.
"In 2017, we continued our evolution toward becoming a global airline while flying a record number of guests and achieving our highest annual load factor in our history. We announced an agreement to enter a joint venture with Delta Airlines, which will give Canadians more access to our low fares and growing network. We also proudly took delivery of Canada's first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft this fall, and it was in service with high reliability before the busy holiday season," said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky.
On February 5, 2018, WestJet's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.14 per common voting share and variable voting share for the first quarter of 2018, to be paid on March 30, 2018.