Canada's Airlines Don't Want Flair Airlines To Be Exempt From A Rule Requiring It To Be Canadian
Flair said that the other airlines "are teaming up to protect their high fares."
Flair Airlines airplane. Right: Air Canada airplane.
Canada's "ultra-low-cost carrier" Flair Airlines could get shut down for not being Canadian enough and other carriers in the country don't want it to be exempt from the rule.
Flair is under review by the Canadian Transportation Agency and a preliminary determination on March 3 said that the airline might not be controlled by Canadians, which could mean it's not really "Canadian."
"Flair holds licenses authorizing domestic, scheduled international, and non-scheduled international air services. Pursuant to the [Canada Transportation Act], Flair must be Canadian to provide these air services," the agency said.
The carrier could lose its right to operate in this country if it's found that too much of its operations are controlled by an American partner, but according to Global News, it has asked for an exemption.
On April 19, the CEOs of the National Airlines Council of Canada (which represents Air Canada, Air Transat, Jazz Aviation LP and WestJet) and the Air Transport Association of Canada (which represents Canadian carriers of all categories) issued a joint statement about the exemption request from Flair.
"Canada's airlines are calling on the government of Canada to reject Flair Airlines' request for an exemption under the Act," the CEOs said.
They claimed that if the exemption is granted, Flair would operate "outside the bounds of existing Canadian law" which would set a "troubling precedent" and threaten the confidence of Canadians in the travel industry.
"By failing to comply with basic, longstanding Canadian ownership and control rules, Flair places considerable uncertainty on the shoulders of travelers, potentially leaving them stranded without a backstop," the CEOs said.
In a statement shared with Narcity, Flair CEO Stephen Jones said that "Air Canada deployed anticompetitive practices against WestJet and WestJet borrowed from Air Canada's playbook to launch anticompetitive practices against Flair Airlines."
"They are teaming up to protect their high fares, which is great for them but not for Canadian families," Jones said. "Without Flair, Canada has some of the highest airfare in the world."
The Canadian Transportation Agency has given Flair 60 days from when the preliminary determination was issued to respond.