Flair seems to be trying to compete more and more with WS and AC, e.g. running flights on routes like YYC-YVR. WS might on occasion use Swoop to replace mainline, but its job is more about opening new markets. So it's not likely that Swoop would fly, say, YEG-YOW, but if WS sees demand from YOW to somewhere in Mexico that can't be properly served by mainline, you could see Swoop. Look out also for destinations that have alternate, lower-cost airports. For instance, could swoop fly YOW-SFB (secondary Orlando-area airport)? Mainline already flies YOW-MCO, but that's not so different from Phoenix, where mainline flies YEG-PHX and Swoop flies YEG-AZA.

What's very likely is that you won't see swoop at YYZ or YUL because the fees are simply too high. YYC too.

In the short term, I don't think anyone wants to make rash decisions. Everything is ugly for every airline right now. In the medium term, a ULCC might be well positioned to capture market share as people become even more price-sensitive.

Hard to say, but it would be a non-cash charge, simply recognizing that any investments already made in the Swoop brand, website, etc have no value. Write-downs shouldn't normally impact decision-making, although unfortunately they do more than they should, but at a company owned by private equity, that would likely not be an important consideration. Those guys aren't worried about meeting stock market expectations for the next quarter or how an impairment charge might impact the bonus pool.

I don't think your bad experience with Flair is necessarily representative of the ULCC experience. It just sounds like a badly run airline. The well-run ULCCs like Ryanair, easyJet, Jetstar, etc are normally very organized and efficient at extracting cash from passengers

There are many of us who find that model very unappealing, but there are lots of people out there who find the low prices very attractive, and who are willing to put up with all the fees and nonsense. Remember that if you have FF status with any airline, you are not Swoop's target market. Not that they wouldn't mind taking your cash from time to time, but their value proposition is oriented towards people who have never flown or fly very rarely, and they're not trying to attract people like us. The goal has been more about generating brand-new traffic, by making it more affordable to fly, than cannibalizing from WS mainline, AC, TS, etc.