Flair CEO says "growing pains" haven't gotten in the way of airline improvements

Flair Airlines CEO Stephen Jones said “growing pains” haven’t gotten in the way of the budget carrier’s high passenger numbers helping to smooth out operations.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, Jones said Flair is one of Canada’s best airlines in terms of this summer’s on-time performance and its load factors, with its planes 90 per cent full on average in July.

It’s a big improvement from the Edmonton-based company’s frequent flight delays, which happened as recently as March.

“We're very far from perfect," he said.

“We've had tons of growing pains — some operationally, some financially, some CTA.”

Last year, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), told Flair to make changes to its board and revoke shareholder rights from 777 Partners, the Miami-based company that owns one-quarter of the airline, in order to comply with rules around domestic ownership.

Flair is also still paying more than US$7 million per month on its 21 Boeing 737 plane leases and has loans amounting to between US$200 million and US$300 million.

In March, a leasing company seized four of Flair’s planes over claims of missed payments.

“The balance sheet is not in great shape," said Jones.

“At some point there will be some form of reckoning, whether it's a restructure or whatever.”

But he insisted that operational improvements overshadow debt woes.

“We’re actually running a decent airline now," he said.

 “More and more, people are just connecting to the idea that they can travel around Canada affordably and have some fun.”

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