Brings Board Membership To 13

Karen Sheriff has been appointed as an independent director on the Board of Directors of WestJet airlines. The appointment is effective immediately and will bring the total number of Board members to thirteen.

"We are pleased to welcome Karen to our Board," commented WestJet's Chair of the Board Clive Beddoe. "She will bring a wealth of business and executive experience from her technology and aviation background."

Karen Sheriff is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of Q9 Networks Inc. having joined the company in January 2015. Prior to her role at Q9, she was President and CEO of Bell Aliant from 2008 to 2014, following more than 9 years in senior leadership positions at BCE Inc. Ms. Sheriff is also a director of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Early on in her career, Ms. Sheriff spent over 10 years at United Airlines, in the areas of Marketing and Strategy.

Ms. Sheriff holds a master's degree in business administration, with concentrations in Marketing and Finance, from the University of Chicago. She was named one of the Canada's top 25 Women of Influence for both 2013 and 2014 by Women of Influence Inc. In 2012, she was named Woman of the Year by the Canadian Women in Communications and has been recognized as one of Atlantic Canada's Top 50 CEOs by Atlantic Business Magazine and one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women on multiple occasions.

(Source: WestJet news release)

FMI: www.westjet.com