Flair Airlines faces lawsuit from aircraft lessors over 2023 plane seizures

Four Irish leasing companies that repossessed planes from Flair Airlines in 2023 due to missed rental payments have filed a lawsuit seeking US$30.9 million in damages, according to a report in the Globe and Mail. 

The legal action is a counterclaim to a $50-million lawsuit Flair launched against the lessors shortly after they took back the Boeing 737 aircraft, accusing them of breaching their contract.

In their recently filed statement of defence with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the lessors allege—though not yet proven in court—that they suffered significant financial losses as a result of recovering, repairing, and either re-leasing or selling the aircraft.

They claim Flair was consistently behind on its rent and owed up to $3.5 million at the time the planes were repossessed.

Flair’s lawsuit against them is “an attempt to recover self-inflicted losses arising from its own defaults under four aircraft leases that it entered into with the lessors.”

“For months, Flair failed to make rent and other payments when due under the leases. It ignored repeated default notices,” reads the counterclaim, filed by Columbia Lights Aviation, Corvus Lights Aviation, Mam Aircraft Leasing and Airborne Capital.

Flair has not yet commented on the story. 

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