Some B.C. passengers say their trust in Canada’s third-largest scheduled airline has been eroded after a weekend of business chaos.
Flair Airlines passengers headed back to B.C. from Arizona had their flight cancelled Friday, and the next morning four aircraft were repossessed. It was revealed it was cancelled because of a sick flight attendant.
Now, passengers stranded in Tuscon are wondering if they will be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses, and say Flair Airlines has not provided food or accommodations.
After a week in Tuscon, Prince George, B.C., resident Dayna Gray discovered her return flight was grounded Friday — after she was already at the airport.
“You go around around and around and every time you call you get someone else who tells you a different story,” said Gray.
“When we got to the hotel we were only booked for one night and so we had to go through the process every day of booking … and it was a different hotel every day,” she said.
Finally, after hours spent on the phone with the company, passengers were eventually told they would get food and hotel vouchers.
“They told us the crew was sick. And then people started sending me articles about planes being repossessed so there’s very little trust. We feel like we’ve been lied to from the very start,” said Gray.
The incident comes after a troubled weekend for the airlines. 1,900 passengers had flights cancelled Saturday after four leased planes were seized because of an overdue payment. Flair says the move was unexpected.
“We’ve come in and upset the cozy duopoly and as a consequence people want us out of business,” said CEO Stephen Jones.
“We do believe there were negotiations going on behind the scenes between one of the majors and the lessor to hurt Flair by offering above market rates the aircraft that we have been leasing from them.”
Jones did not provide any proof to back up his claim.
Despite the turbulence, he says they plan to be around for the long term. However, Jones admits the planned summer expansion may have to be adjusted because of the recent seizure. It would see flights added to all 10 provinces, some American cities and to holiday resorts in Mexico.
The future of low-cost carriers in Canada has not been easy. WestJet has recently acquired Sunwing after a tumultuous holiday season. Industry experts say some of those bargain prices are not sustainable.
“The pricing they were charging was very aggressive in the marketplace. Was that pricing too low to cover off the cost of leasing these airplanes? The answer probably today is yes,” said John Gradek with McGill University’s Aviation Management Program.
In the meantime, Gray says she has given up on hotel and food vouchers and is choosing to stay with friends. She has booked a hotel on her own the day before she flies back to Prince George, hopefully this Friday.
“Hopefully because Flair told us to keep our receipts we are going to we are going to get some compensation,” said Gray. “But, we aren’t holding our breaths.”