Flair tops Canadian airlines with highest number of complaints per 100 flights: CTA

Ultra-low-cost carrier Flair Airlines is making headlines this week for generating the most complaints from customers, according to new federal data.

The Canadian Transport Agency (CTA), a quasi-judicial body that regulates air travel, says more than 20 per cent of Flair’s flights have led to some sort of gripe or grievance.

The carrier, which flies both domestically and internationally, trailed all other major carriers in Canada on customer satisfaction in the first quarter of 2023, the CTA reports.

As reported by CBC News, for the January-March period, the CTA received 20.9 complaints for every 100 Flair flights. This compares to 10.7 for WestJet and 5.8 for Air Canada.

As well. other low-cost carriers in Canada performed better than Flair, despite having similar models.

READ MORE: Flair establishes base in Calgary, will add flights to London (ON), Vegas, Phoenix & P.V.

Calgary-based Lynx, for instance, had 5.2 complaints per 100 flights.

Meanwhile, Sunwing, which was recently acquired by WestJet, was the second-worst for complaints after Flair, generating 17.4 complaints for every 100 flights, according to the CTA.

Swoop, WestJet's low-cost subsidiary, faced 16 complaints per 100 flights.

Air Transat saw the lowest number, generating 4.4 complaints per 100 flights for the January-March period.

Last month, Flair announced that 74.1 per cent of its flights were on time in April.

In addition, Flair said its April load factors — the percentage of seats occupied by paying customers on its flights — was 90.3 per cent in April 2023, with 394,431 passengers booked.

"While our on-time performance was among the best in Canada in April, there is still much work to do as we prepare for what promises to be an incredible summer travel period,” stated Stephen Jones, CEO of Flair, at the time.

"Being focused on this key indicator helps our entire team run a more efficient airline and keep our costs low, for which customers are the beneficiaries."

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