Flair Airlines announced its growth plan, confirming that it will add 18 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft between 2022 and 2023, bringing its total fleet to 30 aircraft, and maintains its goal of reaching 50 MAXs in the next five years.
The ultra-low-cost carrier has currently three Boeing 737-800s and nine Boeing 737-8s and will reach 20 aircraft by the summer of 2022. The company said it will add 14 MAXs by 2023, in addition to the four aircraft confirmed for 2022.
We have a mission to provide low fares to Canadians and flying with a fleet of state-of-the-art Boeing 737 MAXs means we can do so with the lowest cost per passenger-miles in Canada and with lower carbon emissions than any Canadian carrier,” said Stephen Jones, Flair Airlines CEO.
Additionally, 400 new employees will be hired, bringing the total number of employees to 1,000.
Jones told some Canadian media that they will need about 24 flight attendants, 12 pilots per aircraft, and should fill the associated positions to assist with airport service and maintenance.
Low-cost competition increases in Canada
Ultra-low-cost carrier Lynx, formerly Enerjet, announced last month that it will launch commercial routes next year, whilst WestJet subsidiary Swoop continues to grow, unveiling new routes from Edmonton in November.
See also: Enerjet is rebranded as Lynx Air and will have 46 Boeing 737 MAXs
“Imitation is the ultimate form of flattery,” said Stephen Jones, Flair’s CEO.
“I think they recognize what we recognize, which is that the Canadian market needs good, strong, very low-cost competition. So we’ll concentrate on just playing our game. And if they eventually start flying, we’ll sort it out at that time,” he said about Lynx.
Jones is interested in acquiring the higher-density 8-200 model after observing Ryanair’s fabulous performance with the model. In fact, its financial partner 777 Partners has an unidentified order for the aircraft.
See also: More Boeing 737 MAX for Bonza and Flair Airlines: 777 Partners orders 30 aircraft
Canada’s airline regulator (CTR) says it continues to monitor financial arrangements between Flair and U.S. private equity firm 777 Partners, which is leasing the airline its new aircraft. The Miami-based company has a 25 percent stake in the airline.
The foreign ownership cap on domestic airlines is 49 percent, up from 25 percent imposed by the Liberal government in 2018. Flair Airlines accounts for 58 percent of the stake.
Expansion to Mexico and the United States by 2022.
The new aircraft will complement the expansion of frequencies to its current 20 domestic destinations, adding Comox (YQQ) in British Columbia and Deer Lake (YDF) in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2022. The company is based in Abbotsford (YXX), Edmonton (YEG), Ottawa (YOW), Toronto (YYZ), Vancouver (YVR), and Waterloo (YKF).
See also: Flair to have flights between Canada and Mexico
But next year’s major expansion will be on the international side, with plans to land on February 2 in Cancun (CUN) and Los Cabos (SJD) in Mexico. By April 2022, they will add San Francisco (SFO), Denver (DEN), and Nashville (BNA) in the United States, to the current services to Las Vegas (LAS), Burbank (BUR), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Orlando/Sanford (SFD), Palm Springs (PSP) and Phoenix/Mesa (AZA).
The airline’s president said that the Caribbean will be an area of interest to expand its destination offerings.
