Flair takes over New Leaf’s operations

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This article was published 07/06/2017 (3224 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Flair Airlines of Kelowna has acquired the assets of Winnipeg-based New Leaf Travel Co., formalizing the relationship that has been in existence since New Leaf launched Canada’s first ultra low-cost carrier business a year ago.

Chris Lapointe, vice-president of commercial operations for Flair, the company that actually operates the planes New Leaf was selling seats on, said plans were in place from the beginning of the relationship to bring the two companies together.

There will be no changes to New Leaf’s scheduled flights and no changes to its routes. The airline flies to Abbotsford, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Halifax.

“It’s business as usual,” Lapointe said. “We’re looking forward to a busy summer.”

He said the company will start looking at additional routes, including potential southern destinations, in the fall.

Flair currently has a fleet of five Boeing 737-400s configured for 156 seats each.

Julie Rempel, New Leaf’s director of communications and marketing, said 85 per cent of New Leaf’s Winnipeg’s staff have been retained. Although that group does not include New Leaf founder and former CEO, Jim Young, who has left the company.

The relationship between New Leaf and Flair caused regulatory challenges from the beginning, pushing New Leaf’s original launch back almost a whole year. New Leaf first flight took off in July, 2016.

A ruling from the Canadian Transportation Agency in March 2016 specified that New Leaf can operate as a reseller of air travel and did not require an operating licence. Flair has always been licensed as an air carrier by the CTA.

“We are celebrating here because New Leaf was never able to use the word ‘fly’, we always had to use the word ‘travel’,” Rempel said. “Today’s the day all the staff here can say we are an airline and that’s pretty exciting.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca