WestJet Group Executive Vice-President, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and President of WestJet Airlines, Diederik Pen, is to retire, WestJet has announced.
This is anticipated for the first quarter of 2027 at the latest, and until then Pen will stay fully in charge of overseeing the airline and leading operations teams. He is actively involved in the global search for his successor and will be supporting a seamless transition.
Joining WestJet in late 2021, Pen led operations through a period of recovery and supported the safe restart and scaling of the airline as post-COVID demand returned.
Alexis von Hoensbroech, WestJet Group CEO, said: “I respect Diederik’s decision to retire for personal reasons; WestJetters, including myself, will miss his abundance of care, energy and leadership.
“As a highly respected and trusted member of our executive team, I am appreciative of Diederik’s contributions to date and have full trust in his unwavering dedication to his role through the remainder of his tenure.
“Among his many accomplishments over the past five years, Diederik has been central in safety and delivering operational improvements that have allowed us to scale our network and improve our reliability. I look forward to continuing to work together until his retirement.”
Credits: WestJet
