Toronto
After a two-year legal fight, Canada’s upstart WestJet Airlines has admitted to illegally spying on archrival Air Canada. WestJet this week acknowledged that it stole data from a private reservations Web site operated by Air Canada, which it then used to gain a price advantage on several routes. To end litigation over the theft, WestJet publicly apologized to Air Canada, agreed to pay its rival’s legal costs, and made a $10 million donation to a children’s charity. The spying was discovered after detectives hired by Air Canada went through the garbage of a WestJet executive and found shredded paper, which they reconstructed digitally. The documents included proprietary information from Air Canada.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
