WestJet Encore

A sleek turboprop in WestJet colors touches down in Calgary – and the tracker doesn’t say WJA but WEN. Then you have just got WestJet Encore in your viewfinder, the regional subsidiary of WestJet. Since 2013 it has served smaller markets and extra frequencies in its parent’s network with just a single type, the Dash 8-400. Here you will learn how Encore came about, how to tell it apart from the mainline and competitors, and where you have a chance of a sighting.

WestJet Encore at a glance

WestJet Encore is a Canadian regional airline headquartered and hubbed in Calgary. It is wholly owned by WestJet but is legally a separate company with its own operating certificate, its own codes and its own crews. Its flights are sold through WestJet, which is why passengers often don’t even notice they are traveling with the subsidiary. It only becomes clear at the gate: instead of a Boeing 737, a propeller aircraft is waiting.

The idea behind Encore is a classic problem of growing airlines. With an all-737 fleet, an airline in a country like Canada eventually hits limits: many smaller cities simply don’t have enough demand to fill a jet with well over 100 seats several times a day. A smaller aircraft, by contrast, can serve thinner routes and offer more departures per day on existing routes – exactly what business travelers appreciate.

In doing so, WestJet went head to head with Jazz Aviation, which flies the regional routes of Air Canada as Air Canada Express. If you watch for turboprops in Canada, you therefore see both liveries side by side at many airports.

Codes, callsign and flight numbers

With Encore it pays to look closely at the abbreviations, because here operator and marketer diverge:

• IATA code WR: belongs to Encore itself but rarely shows up in everyday use.
• ICAO code WEN: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers – the surest sign of the regional subsidiary.
• Callsign ENCORE: how the crew identifies itself on the radio.
• Flight number with WS: Encore flights are marketed under the WestJet code, mostly with numbers in the range 3100 to 3899.

For your sighting this means: the departure board shows, say, a WS number, but the tracker shows WEN. Both belong to the same flight. Why flight number and callsign are not the same thing is explained in the article Callsign or flight number?, and the system behind the codes is in IATA and ICAO codes explained.

History: from plan to Q400 airline

Founding and launch in 2013

In 2012 the plans for a regional subsidiary became concrete: in summer WestJet placed a firm order for 20 Bombardier Q400 NextGens, plus options on more aircraft. The ATR 72-600 was also in the running – cheaper to buy but slower – and in the end the choice fell on the Canadian turboprop. The name “Encore” stands for the encore to the main brand.

Transport Canada issued the operating certificate on June 12, 2013. The first scheduled flight followed on June 24, 2013 with two aircraft out of Calgary, to Saskatoon, Nanaimo and Fort St. John, among others. The fleet then grew quickly: within a few years new Q400s were added every year.

Excursion to the east

From 2014 Encore extended the network eastward. It started with the route from Toronto to Thunder Bay, and further connections around Toronto Pearson and Halifax followed. With Boston in 2016 it went to the US for the first time, and Nashville followed in 2017. In this phase you could therefore see the Encore Dash 8 in eastern Canada and on the US East Coast as well.

Retreat to western Canada

The pandemic changed the situation fundamentally. In the course of the realignment of the WestJet group from 2021, Encore gave up the routes east of Thunder Bay and has concentrated on western Canada ever since. Calgary is the clear center. A few cross-border connections remain, for example from Calgary and Edmonton to Seattle or to Minneapolis in the Midwest. For spotters in eastern Canada, Encore turboprops have thus become rare; in the west they remain part of everyday life.

A well-known incident occurred on January 31, 2020, in Terrace, British Columbia: during the landing of an Encore Q400, the nose gear collapsed. All 46 people on board were unhurt.

The fleet: one type, many registrations

Encore is a true single-type airline. It flies exclusively the De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400, which was built and marketed by Bombardier until 2019. After that the program passed to De Havilland Canada. That is why you read “Bombardier Q400” in older spotter reports and “Dash 8-400” in newer ones – the same aircraft is meant.

Type	Fleet (approx., fall 2026)	Seats	Use	Spotter note
De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 (Q400 NextGen)	just under 40, not all active	78	Regional routes out of Calgary, a few US destinations	Tracker type DH8D, operator WEN

The fleet-size figures differ depending on source and cutoff date, because aircraft move between active, stored and in maintenance. Take the number as an order of magnitude. The cabin is uniformly equipped with 78 seats; the front ten seats are sold by WestJet as premium, though without more legroom than in the rest of the cabin.

The Dash 8-400 is the largest and fastest member of the Dash 8 family. Two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A engines drive six-blade propellers, and the cruise speed is well above that of many other turboprops. For Encore that is an advantage on the sometimes long routes in western Canada, where several hundred kilometers quickly separate two cities.

How to recognize WestJet Encore

Encore takes its livery from the parent: white fuselage with WestJet titles, tail in WestJet blue and turquoise, plus the stylized maple leaf. You don’t need to look for a separate Encore title in large letters – the WestJet brand is front and center. The aircraft type makes the difference: at WestJet itself only Boeing jets fly, so a propeller aircraft in these colors almost certainly belongs to Encore.

You can identify the Dash 8-400 itself from a few features:

• High wing – the wings sit on top of the fuselage.
• T-tail – the horizontal stabilizer sits right at the top of the fin.
• Six-blade propellers – easy to count when the propeller is stationary at the gate.
• Landing gear in the nacelles – the main gear folds backward into the long engine fairings.
• Stretched fuselage – at just under 33 meters in length the -400 looks noticeably longer than the older Dash 8s.

If you still mix up the two big regional turboprops, the guide Telling the ATR 72 and Dash 8 apart helps. For comparison, it is also worth a look at the ATR 72-600 and the shorter Dash 8-300, which also operates in Canada.

Encore, WestJet and the other group brands

Within the WestJet group every brand has its clear role. For spotters the distinction matters because all flights are sold under the same name.

Brand	Role	Codes	Fleet	Status
WestJet	Mainline	WS / WJA	Boeing 737, 787-9	active
WestJet Encore	Regional subsidiary since 2013	WR / WEN	Dash 8-400	active
Swoop	Ultra-low-cost offshoot	WO / WSW	Boeing 737	integrated into WestJet in 2023
Sunwing	Leisure airline	WG / SWG	Boeing 737	absorbed into WestJet in 2025

Swoop and Sunwing are history today and flew jets anyway. Encore thus remains the only independent flight operating company of the group with propeller aircraft. If you see a Boeing 737-800 in WestJet colors, you have the mainline in front of you – a Dash 8 in the same look is Encore. How airlines offer flights under other carriers’ numbers is explained in the article on codeshare flights.

Spotting WestJet Encore

Europe is not in Encore’s network: the Dash 8-400s are designed for regional routes in North America and do not make it across the Atlantic. If you see a WestJet aircraft in Amsterdam or London, it is the mainline with a 737 or 787-9. For an Encore sighting you have to travel to Canada.

Calgary is the first address. The turboprops from the smaller cities of western Canada meet the parent’s jet traffic there, so you can get both parts of the fleet in front of your camera in one day. Encore flights also turn up at other airports in western Canada. In Vancouver, too, it is worth watching for regional traffic – the Larry Berg Flight Path Park is a popular spot there. Before your visit, check whether Encore currently has routes to Vancouver in its schedule. Across the border, a few connections lead to the US, including Seattle.

With flight tracking via ADS-B you can filter specifically for the operator WEN and see which Dash 8 is coming in next. For sharp propeller pictures with visible rotation, the guide to shutter speed for propeller aircraft helps. And since western Canada is cold and snowy in winter, you will find tips on gear and light in the article Plane spotting in winter.

Common mix-ups

• Assigning Encore flights to the mainline – the flight number starts with WS, but the operator is WEN.
• Mistaking the Dash 8-400 for an ATR 72 – the T-tail and the main landing gear in the engine nacelles clearly point to the Dash 8; the ATR 72-600 also has six-blade propellers.
• Logging every Canadian Dash 8 as Encore – Porter, Jazz and PAL fly the same type in their own colors.
• Expecting Encore in Europe – the turboprops stay in North America.
• Using old route maps – the connections in eastern Canada and to the US East Coast no longer exist.
• Thinking the Q400 and the Dash 8-400 are two types – it is the same aircraft, just under the old and the new manufacturer name.

Conclusion

WestJet Encore is the propeller side of WestJet: an independent regional airline that has connected smaller cities to its parent’s network with the Dash 8-400 since 2013. After an excursion to the east, it now concentrates on western Canada with Calgary as its center. For German spotters, Encore is a destination for a trip to Canada – and a nice exercise in keeping operator, marketer and type neatly apart.