Former Facebook & Instagram executive to helm WestJet's digital strategy

Former Facebook and Instagram executive Alfredo C. Tan will join WestJet as the airline’s Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, effective March 5, 2018.

Reporting to Ed Sims, executive vice-president, commercial, Tan will head the further development and rollout of WestJet's digital strategy as the airline transitions from a low-cost, point-to-point carrier to a fully-fledged network airline. Along with leading the WestJet Digital team at the airline's headquarters in Calgary, Tan will begin to build a second team in Toronto. Together, these teams will collaborate in building out WestJet's full digital capabilities including the creation of a Toronto-based Innovation Centre of Excellence using non-traditional, leading-edge digital products, solutions and partnerships for WestJet.

"I am very excited to be joining WestJet at this important juncture as it embarks on a bold journey in becoming a global airline," said Tan. "In a world where change is the only constant, there are a select group of companies that are open to re-inventing themselves. They are willing to undergo the transformation required to drive substantial growth and delight customers today and tomorrow. WestJet has the culture, the people and the DNA to continue to innovate. I look forward to playing a part in this transformation." " Alfredo joins WestJet as a former Facebook and Instagram Executive in Canada, where he was a founding team member in early 2009. Alfredo went on to work with the leadership team in Asia-Pacific in 2016 to help launch Facebook and Instagram in the Philippines. Similar management and leadership assignments brought him throughout Southeast Asia and Latin America, where he was responsible for helping to build culture, drive operational excellence, strategic planning and accelerate revenue growth in emerging markets.

His 20-year career has been focused in technology, digital media, enterprise marketing and strategy. Prior to his tenure with Facebook and Instagram, Alfredo also held leadership positions at Yahoo!, Sympatico MSN and Bell Canada.