Flair Airlines is paring down its flight schedule for the spring.
The Edmonton-based low-cost airline is flying roughly 600 fewer flights in March, April and May compared with the same months in 2023, according to data provided to Global News by Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
That means fewer domestic flights departing from the carrier’s major hubs, including Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton.
Specifics of the reduced schedule were first reported by The Globe and Mail on Friday.
Flair Airlines did not respond to Global News on Friday when asked for details about the cuts.
But a statement from Eric Tanner, the airline’s vice-president of revenue management and network planning, sent to Global News on Wednesday confirmed the flight reductions.
He said there is a “broader context” to Flair’s cuts, however, noting that the airline’s “available seat miles” were up four per cent year over year, expanding the carrier’s overall capacity from last year.
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Tanner said that was driven by Flair flying longer trips on average compared with last year. These flights are less affected by the “considerable airport costs” that come with landing in Canada, he said.
Flair is also putting more resources behind flights to “sun destinations” like Mexico and the Caribbean in 2024, Tanner said.
Flair’s reduced schedule comes as rival low-cost carrier Lynx Air announced last month it would shutter operations as it seeks creditor protection.
Flair is also facing financial challenges as it owes the federal government some $67.2 million in unpaid taxes, prompting Ottawa to obtain a seizure order for property. The airline has a deal with the Canada Revenue Agency to pay the owed taxes, according to the company’s CEO, who says the order will not impact the carrier’s operations.
John Gradek, a lecturer at McGill University’s aviation management program, told Global News earlier this week that the ultra-low-cost carrier has had serious financial issues for a while, and he expects they’re getting worse.
Gradek added that passengers should be “somewhat nervous and concerned,” and while he said he wouldn’t cancel his trip on Flair, he would get some insurance “just in case.”
“Flair is creeping towards a potential showdown with its creditors,” he said. “And Canadians are caught between the crosshairs of that showdown.”
– with files from Global News’ Adam Toy and Tomasia DaSilva and The Canadian Press
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