March Break got off to a turbulent start for many Canadians who were supposed to fly Flair Airlines over the weekend after the ultra-low-cost-carrier cancelled flights due to what they say they were told was “maintenance” issues.
But those cancellations come amid what Flair has called a “commercial dispute” with a U.S. based lessor that seized four of its planes over recent days.
And while it’s not immediately clear if the cancelled flights were due to the planes being seized, one aviation expert says this latest development has heightened the level of risk in buying a Flair ticket. “This scenario of getting airplanes seized and losing 20 per cent of your aircraft fleet is a significant blow to the credibility and to the brand that is that the fleet is trying to build in Canada,” said John Gradek, a faculty lecturer at McGill University in aviation and supply management. “You can still get a good deal, but… you’re taking some chances in terms of buying a ticket with Flair,” he added.
Read more: What we know about 4 Flair Airlines planes seized over ‘commercial dispute’ Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, discount airlines, such as Edmonton-based Flair, Calgary-based Lynx, and WestJet subsidiary Swoop, rapidly expanded across Canada.