FLAIR airlines- thoughts on airline - hard and soft product
Feb 3, 2024, 10:38 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan SE AND 1MM, HHonors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum , L'Accor Platinum
Posts: 9,580
FLAIR airlines- thoughts on airline - hard and soft product
Any recent flights by anyone?- any experiences?
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.
Feb 4, 2024, 12:13 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2023
Location: Under the Big Oak Tree
Programs: Air Bukovina Elite, Circassian Air Gold, Carthaginian Airlines Platinum
Posts: 520
Any recent flights by anyone?- any experiences?
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.
Mar 3, 2024, 6:02 am
#4
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: YEG
Programs: Table scraps from Aeroplan and AmEx Plat
Posts: 901
Flew them 3 time in the past month, last minute bookings from YEG to Vancouver. Not exactly low cost T-72 hrs, but better than WS or AC, even with Aeroplan points.
As long as your flight is first of the day, you're likely to be okay one-time wise. An afternoon or evening flight is quite likely to be delayed.
Planea are new, but no frills. Don't think the seats recline. Not much of service to speak of but crew are pleasant. Last week one of the male FAs wore a sleeveless shirt, arms covered with tattoos. I'm not a prude but found it distasteful. Decent chance he gets away with it on some "cultural" diversity and inclusion claim.
One (currently enraging for me) recent change they have made is NOT to issue you a boarding pass, even if you check in online (doing so at airport costs $25). If you purchase luggage, then you do get to print out a boarding pass. If you do not, to have to line up and present yourself at the check-in counter (hopefully free) to ensure you have the right luggage. I guess they don't want to deal with not-paid-for rollaboards at the gate, but what the heck OLCI system is that? I have 5 hours in YVR today (in and out). This will necessitate me arriving at the airport nearly an hour earlier than otherwise, in order to prove that I am not a mоrоn (only traveling with a backpack) and understand their luggage policy, or else they won't issue me a BP.
Of course, this being an afternoon flight it will probably be delayed, so there's a good 4-5 wasted hours at YVR and their overcrowded Plaza Premium lounge
I will avoid them even more now.
As long as your flight is first of the day, you're likely to be okay one-time wise. An afternoon or evening flight is quite likely to be delayed.
Planea are new, but no frills. Don't think the seats recline. Not much of service to speak of but crew are pleasant. Last week one of the male FAs wore a sleeveless shirt, arms covered with tattoos. I'm not a prude but found it distasteful. Decent chance he gets away with it on some "cultural" diversity and inclusion claim.
One (currently enraging for me) recent change they have made is NOT to issue you a boarding pass, even if you check in online (doing so at airport costs $25). If you purchase luggage, then you do get to print out a boarding pass. If you do not, to have to line up and present yourself at the check-in counter (hopefully free) to ensure you have the right luggage. I guess they don't want to deal with not-paid-for rollaboards at the gate, but what the heck OLCI system is that? I have 5 hours in YVR today (in and out). This will necessitate me arriving at the airport nearly an hour earlier than otherwise, in order to prove that I am not a mоrоn (only traveling with a backpack) and understand their luggage policy, or else they won't issue me a BP.
Of course, this being an afternoon flight it will probably be delayed, so there's a good 4-5 wasted hours at YVR and their overcrowded Plaza Premium lounge
I will avoid them even more now.
Mar 3, 2024, 6:08 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: YEG
Programs: Table scraps from Aeroplan and AmEx Plat
Posts: 901
Any recent flights by anyone?- any experiences?
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.
Mar 3, 2024, 7:20 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: YYC
Posts: 10
I flew flair a dozen times since their inception. My most recent flight was two weeks ago. Most of my flights with them were short hops across the rockies from YYC to YVR and back.
They have gotten better operationally but still quite prone to delays which is a result of high airplane utilization, relatively short turnaround times and no backup planes available.
Flair would now send email/text messages ahead of time to let you know if flight will be delayed as well as automatically provide you with meal vouchers when eligible although dollar amount is laughably small ($7).
I never had my flight cancelled with them but about half of my flights with them were indeed delayed so I always budget for a possible delay time wise when I fly with them.
They have gotten better operationally but still quite prone to delays which is a result of high airplane utilization, relatively short turnaround times and no backup planes available.
Flair would now send email/text messages ahead of time to let you know if flight will be delayed as well as automatically provide you with meal vouchers when eligible although dollar amount is laughably small ($7).
I never had my flight cancelled with them but about half of my flights with them were indeed delayed so I always budget for a possible delay time wise when I fly with them.
Mar 22, 2024, 3:16 pm
#7
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: YYC
Posts: 10
Flair Moves Flights to Sun Destinations; One Expert Calls it a Smart Move
Originally Posted by openjaw.com
The Globe and Mail says Flair Airlines has sliced its spring schedule by more than 600 flights, but a prominent Canadian expert says the moves are "common sense." Flair has eliminated a number of flights out of YYZ, YYC, YOW and YEG for March, April and May, the Globe said, all while adding flights to Florida, Mexico and other resort destinations, including LAS.
It’s actually a smart move, said Robert Kokonis, an aviation consultant based in Toronto.
System-wide, Flair flights are down 8% year over year. But capacity is up 4% and the average stage length of a flight is up 13.6%, Kokonis told Open Jaw.
“They’re allocating aircraft to where customers want to travel,” he said. “It’s just common sense in my opinion. More people want to fly from Toronto to Cancun in March than want to fly Toronto to Charlottetown.”
Kokonis, president of AirTrav Inc., said Flair has 19 airplanes in its fleet, the same as a year ago.
The Edmonton-based airline has 39 less flights out of YYZ than it did a year ago, but available seat miles are up more than 4%.
“They’re actually busier than they were a year ago,” he said.
By adding more long-haul flights, Flair is taking airplanes out of service for longer periods. And that means shorter-haul flights need to be cut.
“Their flight schedule was posted last year,” he said. “These are really tweaks to the schedule.”
Kokonis said Flair’s flights to CUN are up 435%, while flights to PVR are up 136%.
The Globe said the changes for Flair come at a time when the company is trying to pay back $67 million in federal taxes. Flair also has an issue with a payment-processing company, Peoples Group, which is said to be withholding $25-million in transfers to the airline, The Globe stated.
McGill University aviation expert John Gradek told CTV News that Flair is “chasing rainbows” by moving flights to sun destinations where they can maybe make more money.
“It’s a sign of desperation as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “They’re chasing opportunities that are short-term opportunities in nature. They’re going to fly to the sun markets for 10 weeks and then take the airplanes and fly them someplace else.”
It’s actually a smart move, said Robert Kokonis, an aviation consultant based in Toronto.
System-wide, Flair flights are down 8% year over year. But capacity is up 4% and the average stage length of a flight is up 13.6%, Kokonis told Open Jaw.
“They’re allocating aircraft to where customers want to travel,” he said. “It’s just common sense in my opinion. More people want to fly from Toronto to Cancun in March than want to fly Toronto to Charlottetown.”
Kokonis, president of AirTrav Inc., said Flair has 19 airplanes in its fleet, the same as a year ago.
The Edmonton-based airline has 39 less flights out of YYZ than it did a year ago, but available seat miles are up more than 4%.
“They’re actually busier than they were a year ago,” he said.
By adding more long-haul flights, Flair is taking airplanes out of service for longer periods. And that means shorter-haul flights need to be cut.
“Their flight schedule was posted last year,” he said. “These are really tweaks to the schedule.”
Kokonis said Flair’s flights to CUN are up 435%, while flights to PVR are up 136%.
The Globe said the changes for Flair come at a time when the company is trying to pay back $67 million in federal taxes. Flair also has an issue with a payment-processing company, Peoples Group, which is said to be withholding $25-million in transfers to the airline, The Globe stated.
McGill University aviation expert John Gradek told CTV News that Flair is “chasing rainbows” by moving flights to sun destinations where they can maybe make more money.
“It’s a sign of desperation as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “They’re chasing opportunities that are short-term opportunities in nature. They’re going to fly to the sun markets for 10 weeks and then take the airplanes and fly them someplace else.”
Mar 23, 2024, 5:21 pm
#9
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 53
Any recent flights by anyone?- any experiences?
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.
We are thinking of going YYZ-PVR in May - fares somewhat cheaper than Westjet, and much cheaper than AC or US legacy carriers.'
But is it worth it flying on the airline?
Will the airline still be in business in May- in view of CRA tax bill for Flair for CAD$67 million.