Gregg Saretsky (born 1959 in Châteauguay,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is the former president and CEO of

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

, a carrier based in Calgary, Alberta. He served in that position from April 2010 to March 8, 2018, after the resignation of Sean Durfy. He grew up in a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

suburb to a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

mother and a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

father. He moved with his family to Richmond, British Columbia in 1970. He acquired a Bachelor of Science in

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

in 1982 and a master of business administration in 1984, both at

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. 1985-1998 he worked with Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (formerly Pacific Western Airlines and CP Air), rising to vice president roles for Airports and Marketing. From 1998-2008 he was an executive at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

based Alaska Airlines Inc. In mid 2009 he joined WestJet Airlines Ltd. as vacation vice-president; in April 2010 he became CEO of the airline. Saretsky is married and has three children. He has also two older brothers who are commercial pilots, one with Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and the other with Air Canada.

Awards and recognitions

*Business Person of the Year for 2012 by ''

Alberta Venture Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to t ...

'' magazine.

References

External links

Westjet: Gregg Saretsky, president and chief executive officerUniversity of British Columbia alumni: Gregg Saretsky, BSc 1982, MBA 1984
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saretsky, Gregg Canadian airline chief executives WestJet people UBC Sauder School of Business alumni Canadian people of German descent Canadian people of French descent 1959 births Living people People from Châteauguay