Flair resumes local service July 15

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/06/2020 (1421 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After pulling out of the Winnipeg market due to declining air travel demands related to COVID-19 earlier this year, low-fare airline Flair announced Wednesday it will be resuming service in the city on July 15.

Flair, a budget-friendly carrier with six planes used for domestic travel, preemptively reduced its active fleet to one aircraft as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the air-transportation industry. Routes were limited to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto, a move the company said was necessary to move forward.

“We needed to optimize our route structure,” said John Mullins, the airline’s vice-president of customer experience and airports, who added that service to Kelowna was also halted as the pandemic arrived in Canada, as was an expansion of services to the East Coast and Ottawa.

Prior to COVID-19’s arrival in Canada in March, Mullins said the standard Flair flight left the tarmac with 93 per cent capacity on aircraft like the 186-seat Boeing 737-800. During the pandemic, that figure dropped off a cliff: the plane Flair operated sometimes departed with capacity hovering near 20 per cent, a rate in keeping with the major dropoffs in traffic airports are seeing worldwide.

Over the past few weeks, that figure steadily rose, Mullins said, with some flights operating at closer to 70 per cent capacity.

Overall, the air transportation industry is facing an uncertain future. Some analysts predict it could take three to five years before airlines and airports begin to recover from the unprecedented losses they’re facing at the moment. Airports Council International, an airport trade organization, has predicted a reduction of 4.6 billion passengers and of US$97 billion in revenue for 2020.

With that in mind, Mullins expects low-fare options to see major opportunities for growth in the coming years, as the price point becomes attractive to an expanding quadrant of consumers. As a domestic-only carrier, Flair also is somewhat insulated from the potential of long-term international flight restrictions. However, intraprovincial restrictions will undoubtedly affect demand.

The airline has offered customers booked to fly to East Coast destinations and Ottawa full refunds. One-way flights between Calgary and Winnipeg and Toronto and Winnipeg will be offered starting in July, costing starting rates of $79 and $99 respectively.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca