Following the implementation of tariffs and Trump’s swipes at how Canada should become “the 51st state,” many Canadians have cut off travel to the U.S. in a dropoff not seen in decades.
Customs and Border Protection numbers show that border crossings from the north have fallen by 18% in March 2025, while Canadian airlines such as Air Canada (ACDVF) and WestJet have been cutting their service to cities including San Francisco, Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas, among others.
“If we can derisk this a little bit and […] move capacity into other sectors where we see strength, I think that’s the right move right now in this context,” Air Canada’s Executive Vice President of Revenue and Network Planning Mark Galardo told investors in March.
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Investment in Canadian airline WestJet ‘aligns our interests,’ says Delta CEO
Even so, Delta Air Lines (DAL) just announced that it will be investing $330 million USD to acquire a 15% stake in the latter WestJet. As the second-largest carrier in Canada by passengers carried, the Calgary-based airline had been particularly popular for travel to Hawaii as well as between West Coast cities within Canada and in the U.S.
The announcement was made together with South Korean flagship carrier Korean Air, which will also be investing $220 million USD for a 10% stake.
Related: Second Canadian airline cuts US flights due to low demand
“Investing in a world-class partner like WestJet aligns our interests and ensures that we remain focused on providing a world-class global network and customer experience for travelers in the United States and Canada,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement. “Together, Delta and our airline partners are connecting the world and transforming the future of travel.”
The three carriers have all been members of the same SkyTeam codeshare alliance since WestJet was added to the fold in 2011. If permitted to close, the deal would also leave Delta with the right to sell 2.3% of its stake in WestJet to fellow SkyTeam partner Air France-KLM (AFRAF) for $50 million.
Ed Bastian has been the head of Delta since 2016.
Image source: Dos Santos/AFP via Getty Images
While at one point listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, WestJet has been private since its acquisition by a branch of the Canadian investment firm Onex Corporation in 2019. As such, details of its finances and reasons for selling the stakes are limited to what the companies disclose.
“We are pleased to invest in WestJet as part of our continued commitment to enhancing transpacific connectivity,” Korean Air Chairman and CEO Walter Cho said in a separate statement.
Onex co-head Tawfiq Popatia also welcomed the investment by praising Delta and Korean as among “the world’s most prominent and best-managed airlines.”
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Prior to news of the deal, WestJet had also spoken of the need to rework its networks and look at partnerships for more international destinations amid the drop in travel between Canada and the U.S.
“Due to a downward shift in demand, WestJet has updated its summer schedule to help Canadians fly where they want to go,” WestJet told Simple Flying at the start of May, amid news that a planned route between Austin and Vancouver had been scrapped. “Our schedule is continuously being adjusted based on demand.”
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