Clive Beddoe upset an entire industry. Moving from the pilot's seat of a glider to the CEO’s seat of WestJet, the company he co-founded, he challenged a market that had been dominated by Canada’s two major passenger airlines. With insatiable curiosity, he changed the lives of thousands of employees by sharing ownership of the company. Through WestJet’s philanthropic programs and personal donations to family- and youth-based organizations, Clive has committed to creating a Calgary that brings opportunity to more people. As he sees it, there is no telling who might have the next big idea. Better to give them the chance to realize it.
Born in 1946 and growing up with three siblings in Surrey, England, Clive John Beddoe found himself distancing from his home country. “I just kept seeing a country as it was or had been and it was relying on its history,” he said. This was a challenge for a young man with an ambitious and curious spirit. There had to be someplace in the world wide enough for him to stretch out – to try what had not yet been done.
In 1970, a 24-year-old Clive arrived in Calgary as a valuation surveyor, a profession particular to the United Kingdom’s real estate sector. He found work with a realty company and began his journey toward Canadian citizenship, but the spirited young man wanted more. “It was exciting for me to come to Canada and particularly Alberta because Albertans were so embracing of any new energy.” Clive believes people can be extraordinarily inventive and progressive when they have trust and a passion to try something different.
After 8 years in Alberta, Clive branched out on his own, finding like-minded people ready to take a risk. “I was ambitious and enthusiastic and energized by Calgary. It was such a dynamic place that gave all kinds of opportunities for me to expand my horizons.” With his own company, Hanover Management, he began to reshape Calgary’s literal landscape. The city was a corporate hot spot, and Hanover was making its mark in property management and real estate development.
It was in the sky that Clive’s passions would meet. In England, he had trained as a glider pilot. Flight fascinated him, as did the rolling landscape around Calgary. He joined a local gliding club, becoming president and chief flying instructor, then earned his private pilot licence, along with floatplane, multi-engine and instrument endorsements and his helicopter licence. He even flew aerobatics for a few years.
Between building real estate ventures and taking to the skies, a new opportunity soon became visible. Canada’s 2 major commercial airlines were in fierce competition in the early 1990s, while options in western Canada remained limited. Frustrated by the cost of flying weekly to Vancouver to manage a company he had taken over, he ended up purchasing his own 8-seater plane and flying himself. He thought there had to be a better solution that would serve more people. One of his Hanover team members proposed a “what if” idea that took root in Clive’s mind: What if Canada had a commercial carrier that did things differently?
The “what if” quickly became a “but how.” Clive knew the airline industry was unforgiving. Smaller competitors were routinely bought up or edged out, and he understood that a good idea would need a sustainable business model. “When people have the opportunity to fly at a lower fare in a safe environment, then more people fly.” Lower fares were part of the answer, but so was the experience. Efficiencies had to benefit travellers, and Clive paid close attention to what mattered to them, including allowing ticket transfers rather than saddling customers with a purchase they might not use. The business model had to work, but so did the human experience. That thinking extended even to language: WestJet called the people who flew with them “guests,” not passengers, reinforcing the idea that the relationship should feel more personal. Beyond that, it needed to be fun while delivering exceptional service – the kind the whole team, as owners, could get behind.
Research was part of the equation. So was surrounding himself with people who could see the opportunity. Clive’s strength was connecting those who could turn an idea into a profitable business. “I saw myself as the chemist putting all the pieces together and making it work that way and bringing in a CEO to run it.”
The “it,” of course, became WestJet, and Clive became its CEO. He realized that financial and network resources alone would not be enough to get the airline off the ground. He also had to step into a public leadership role that did not come naturally. “I had to grow into someone that I wasn't altogether comfortable being to make this all come about.”
There was an even bolder part to Clive’s WestJet story than co-founding one of Canada’s most successful businesses: sharing the profits with the team. With employees literally invested in the company’s success, ownership became part of the culture.
Clive remains mindful of what WestJet’s original team of staff and investors risked. “Two hundred and twenty people joined us to start WestJet on Day One. And they all gave up a job somewhere. They all took a risk to come to an airline industry that has a 98% failure rate. They all were willing to believe in us and come and join the fray and be part of the startup, let alone all the investors who also put money in.”
Thirty years after WestJet’s inaugural flight on February 29, 1996, Clive remains astonished by the capacity of people to soar. “I was the fortunate leader, perhaps the ideas person, but only one of many. When you build a team of people, the ideas come up all over the place.” His metaphor of being the chemist who brought together the elements of success still holds true. He also brought his own creative spirit, curiosity, and care for others to the mix, helping shape an environment in which people were encouraged to contribute, take ownership and think differently.
Looking back, Clive still marvels at the unlikely path that brought him there. “Here I am, principal founder of Canada's second-largest airline, and I'm a valuation surveyor from England. For goodness' sake, how did that happen? It happened because I was passionate about flying. It came about because I was curious, because I was fascinated about an opportunity.”
WestJet grew from that startup team into a major Canadian carrier. By 2019, when WestJet agreed to be acquired by Onex, the company employed about 14,000 WestJetters, 90% of whom were shareholders. Clive had stepped away from day-to-day management years earlier, serving as president until 2006 and CEO until 2007, while remaining closely involved in governance as chair of the board through 2019.
His leadership extended well beyond aviation. Clive served as a director of AIMCo from 2008 to 2013 and later chaired the board of SQI Diagnostics. He also served on the board of Renaissance Resources and the Forzani Group. His business interests have continued through the Hanover Group of Companies.
Communities across Canada have recognized Clive’s extensive contributions to leadership and industry. The University of Calgary (2008) and Wilfrid Laurier University (2009) awarded him honorary doctor of laws degrees. His business honours include Wilfrid Laurier University’s Business Leader of the Year (2002), the University of Calgary’s Distinguished Business Leader of the Year (2003), Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year (2000) and World Entrepreneur of the Year for Teamwork (2000).
He has been inducted into Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends in the Visionaries category, the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, the Junior Achievement Southern Alberta Business Hall of Fame, the Calgary Business Hall of Fame, the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame and the Canadian Travel Hall of Fame. He has also received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (Alberta). In 2019, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures, recognition that spoke directly to the culture he helped establish at WestJet.
Clive’s appetite for adventure extended well beyond aviation. He took up sailing in 1974. In 2007, he took part in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, sailing from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia. For Clive, the appeal was familiar: challenge, independence, and the chance to see what lay beyond the horizon.
Clive and his wife Ruth, grandparents of 2, along with their children Sean and Kailey, have been longstanding supporters of Trellis Society, formerly the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary. The organization, one of many they support in the family services sector, offers youth and families resources to grow and thrive. His support is a natural extension of his belief that people are capable of extraordinary things when the right conditions are in place.
As new generations rise toward whatever they will become and what they will give to the world, Clive offers this advice: “Just be curious. Spend your life being curious. Ask questions.”