occidentalcapital
Senior Member
As far as I know, their HQ is already at YEG in the old office/control tower??
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Flair Airlines General Discussion and Updates
- Thread starter occidentalcapital
- Start date
BASE
Active Member
Indeed, sorry I just meant either a totally new building for themselves. The old office/control tower has been a good solution for them at the moment as they grow and establish themselves.
MacLac
Senior Member
Eventually they’ll need a maintenance hangar and hopefully larger office complex akin to Westjets
Glenco
Senior Member
The only problem with their current location is that building is in serious need of a major upgrade.
IanO
Senior Member
The tower had plans to be 'reimagined' and converted into traditional office, rentable offices by the hour for folks awaiting flights and even a hotel at one point.
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
Between HQ of Canada's third-largest airline, and rent-by-the-hour office space, I'll take the HQ!
EdmTrekker
Senior Member
Well, maybe 3rd largest "national" carrier. Transat and Sunwing offer almost no year round service west of Toronto.
Gronk!
Senior Member
I'll second that!
I look forward to Flair living a long and prosperous life at EIA (to paraphrase a certain Vulcan).
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
Interesting exchange of views between CEO of Flair and CEO of WestJet on LinkedIn:
Ed Sims
Stephen - you will remember from running a low cost subsidiary of a large monopolist that Australiasia benefits from materially lower regulatory costs than Canada. $8 out of every $100 in your New Zealand homeland goes on airport and ATC charges - in Canada that number is $24. While aiming at “Big Air “( which seems to include an airline that has halved domestic airfares over its 26 years)you might also recognize the role of unavoidable airport and NavCanada costs in international comparisons
Stephen Jones
Come on Ed… you are deflecting. It is true that Canada is a more expensive environment to operate in than say Europe at an airport and ATC level, but that does not explain $800 one way economy fares on a 90 minute flight. Calgary to Edmonton today, a 2 1/2 hour drive, had air fares of $780 one way.
The reason for the high fares is lack of efficient competition - plain and simple. Flair is here to change that.
10 years from now, there are two things I know for sure. Air Canada will still exist, and there will be a thriving ULCC sector covering 30-50 percent of the market. The other airlines will need to reinvent themselves or will disappear.
www.linkedin.com
Ed Sims
Stephen - you will remember from running a low cost subsidiary of a large monopolist that Australiasia benefits from materially lower regulatory costs than Canada. $8 out of every $100 in your New Zealand homeland goes on airport and ATC charges - in Canada that number is $24. While aiming at “Big Air “( which seems to include an airline that has halved domestic airfares over its 26 years)you might also recognize the role of unavoidable airport and NavCanada costs in international comparisons
Stephen Jones
Come on Ed… you are deflecting. It is true that Canada is a more expensive environment to operate in than say Europe at an airport and ATC level, but that does not explain $800 one way economy fares on a 90 minute flight. Calgary to Edmonton today, a 2 1/2 hour drive, had air fares of $780 one way.
The reason for the high fares is lack of efficient competition - plain and simple. Flair is here to change that.
10 years from now, there are two things I know for sure. Air Canada will still exist, and there will be a thriving ULCC sector covering 30-50 percent of the market. The other airlines will need to reinvent themselves or will disappear.
Stephen Jones on LinkedIn: âBig Air will say anything to make you pay more. But thereâs hope because⦠| 47 comments
Big Air will say anything to make sure Canadians keep paying too much for airfare. But we know there’s hope for more affordable options because there’s Flair… | 47 comments on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com
EdmTrekker
Senior Member
I agree with Stephen Jones. ULCC will fly 50% of all passenger traffic domestically (and internationally imo). That leaves 50% for AC, WS, AT, SW, Porter to fight over premium flyers and economy class seats from passengers heading to destinations served by a ULCC.Interesting exchange of views between CEO of Flair and CEO of WestJet on LinkedIn:
Ed Sims
Stephen - you will remember from running a low cost subsidiary of a large monopolist that Australiasia benefits from materially lower regulatory costs than Canada. $8 out of every $100 in your New Zealand homeland goes on airport and ATC charges - in Canada that number is $24. While aiming at “Big Air “( which seems to include an airline that has halved domestic airfares over its 26 years)you might also recognize the role of unavoidable airport and NavCanada costs in international comparisons
Stephen Jones
Come on Ed… you are deflecting. It is true that Canada is a more expensive environment to operate in than say Europe at an airport and ATC level, but that does not explain $800 one way economy fares on a 90 minute flight. Calgary to Edmonton today, a 2 1/2 hour drive, had air fares of $780 one way.
The reason for the high fares is lack of efficient competition - plain and simple. Flair is here to change that.
10 years from now, there are two things I know for sure. Air Canada will still exist, and there will be a thriving ULCC sector covering 30-50 percent of the market. The other airlines will need to reinvent themselves or will disappear.
Stephen Jones on LinkedIn: âBig Air will say anything to make you pay more. But thereâs hope because⦠| 47 comments
Big Air will say anything to make sure Canadians keep paying too much for airfare. But we know there’s hope for more affordable options because there’s Flair… | 47 comments on LinkedIn
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occidentalcapital
Senior Member
The part you bolded was Stephen Jones (Flair CEO) not Ed Sims.
ION
Active Member
Any news on future routes? ORD and EWR keep getting mentioned... And what's the status of BUR? That to me besides an LHR and KEF flight are of the cities most importance to try and land or attract new flights to and and from CYEG so I hope that Flair is up to the task. If anyone can make a go of it on these routes it will be this ULCC aka 21st century version of a flying Greyhound... Which ironically couldn't get off the ground for more than just a few months for one summer 25 years ago...
ION
Active Member
I honestly don't get the big stink is about ULCC's. Is it just that people are that stupid and entitled these days or are the flights really that bad? The worst service I've ever received on a domestic was a Westjet out of Edmonton and that was mostly the check in crew at the bag drop... Otherwise the service in the sky is virtually the same... A mixture of benign neglect and passive aggressive hostility... Then again that's also true in every other service industry which is why I prefer most of my experiences these day to be self guided and automated. Very rarely is it where I actually need to interact with a human and that's OK. Most are terrible anyway... ;-)
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
Interesting analysis here. Flair is now about 30% of WestJet's size in terms of seat capacity for September 2022. Pretty rapid growth!
source:
source:
BASE
Active Member
Love to see it although Swoop seats can be lumped in with Westjet.
Anecdotally seeing less complaints about Flair on delays and other issues. The one I’ve seen a lot recently is issues with their online check-in system.
Hopefully they can keep filling planes and charge a decent amount for their seats ($49 for a trip anywhere is just crazy). Wonder if a YEG- New York route, being big for tourists, could be in their future even a couple times a week.