What’s Going On with Canadian Ultra-Low-Cost Carriers?

In recent times, there has been a lot of movement in the Canadian ultra-low-cost carrier landscape.

Last month, Edmonton-based Flair Airlines had planes repossessed in scenes that some travellers might remember from the implosion of Jetsgo in the mid-2000s.

Meanwhile, the newest kid on the block, Canada Jetlines, joined forces with Air Miles, but has suspended its operation of routes within Canada for the time being. Rather, it appears to be moving in favour of destinations to the south, while also leasing out its aircraft and crew, at least until the fall.

Both of these moves come with recent announcements that flying in Canada is about to get more expensive. 

Let’s take a look at what happened, and where it might go from here.

Dramatic Repossessions for Flair Airlines

On March 11, 2023, three Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and one 737-800 leased by Flair Airlines from Airborne Capital Limited were grounded and later seized by bailiffs. The disruption affected up to 1,900 passengers, whose flights were cancelled abruptly, and forced Flair to scramble to accommodate the remainder of their scheduled flights. 

The stated reason for this unfortunate situation was Flair’s alleged consistent delinquency and non-payment of their lease. Airborne claims it warned Flair multiple times that its failure to make good on its debts would result in the seizure of the aircraft, and the presence of bailiffs to facilitate the grounding and seizures would seem to indicate that they had strong backing.

Flair has fired back by filing a $50-million lawsuit, claiming that the confiscations were coordinated in conjunction with an unnamed airline, to whom Airborne was intending to lease the planes at a higher rate. The fact that the airplanes became available for lease fewer than two weeks later could be seen as giving this theory some legitimacy, as well.

Of course, this didn’t prevent many passengers from being left on the ground, and who were also given of a myriad of unrelated reasons for their cancellations.

Oddly enough, some received confirmation that Flair had claimed unscheduled mechanical issues that were definitely outside of the airline’s control as the reason for the disruption, therefore absolving Flair from paying compensation under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations.