Recently the Kicking Horse Country Chamber of Commerce brought Don Bell, one of the founders and the retired executive VP of WestJet, back to Golden to present to the community his secrets to the success of WestJet.

Over 30 people attended in an intimate setting at Apostoles Restaurant. To this audience, Bell spoke of the start up of the company and how he and his team created the environment that is now the foundation for WestJet’s excellence and success.

Bell spoke of the beginning when trying to borrow $8 million on a plan that most potential investors found quite frightening. In the end, Bell and fellow creators convinced 11 investors to sign up. He described these happenings in a funny, human way that captivated those in attendance.

He described the process of the purchase of the first few airplanes for WestJet.

“They were 20-year-old gas guzzling beasts,” he said with a small smile.

Bell went on to describe the reservation system that he created on a mini-HP that was 25 years old.

“It never creased and it was lightening fast,” he said to laughing audience members.

He explained how when the first reservation was received and processed, his response was “wow it worked”. That system is now the third largest reservation system in the world.

Bell provided some eye opening statistics about the company’s success saying the WestJet produced $37 million in its first year of operation. In 2007, Bell said WestJet produced $2.2 billion in revenue with $193 million in profits.

He spoke about the philosophies of the company with respect to its staff and explained that all new employees receive a talk just like the one that he did in Golden. Bell spoke of creating a work environment where the interests and values of the people reflected the interests and values of the company. The creation of that environment resulted in a workplace where the employees were so happy that they reflected that back upon the customer. Bell tells of one of his favourite comments from a customer.

“How do you make your people look like they enjoy their job?” he repeated to the amusement of the audience.

Toward the end of the speech, Bell spoke of all of the fundamentals of running a successful business and the resounding response heard around the room was, “It all seems so simple.”

This is something that he feels himself and it reflects in his inspiring and enjoyable presentation.

According to a recent press release, in the year 2000, Don and the team of co-founders of WestJet, won the award for Canadian Entrepreneurs of the Year. The team went on to win an International Entrepreneurship Award for Outstanding Teamwork in 2001. WestJet was named Canada’s most respected corporation for customer service in 2005 and 2006 and was awarded the Waterstone Human Capital Award for Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture in 2005 and 2006.

Bell retired from WestJet in July 2007 and can now be found sharing the WestJet story all across the country.

Bell said he takes great pride in the successes of WestJet and its people.