In what the airline referred to be a “commercial dispute” over the four jets, Flair Airlines’ four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were seized by its lessor.
The airline’s four aircraft were seized over the weekend at three Canadian airports: Region of Waterloo International Airport, Edmonton International Airport, and Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) (YKF).
The carrier reported “service delays” at these airports in a statement that was shared on Twitter on March 12, 2023.
All 19 of the airline’s 737 MAX planes are leased from other businesses, according to data from ch-aviation.com.
Today, we experienced some service disruptions at YEG, YYZ & YKF. We are very sorry to our passengers who were impacted. We know unforeseen interruptions to travel are stressful, and we are doing everything we can to get our customers to their destinations as soon as possible 1/4
— flair airlines (@FlairAirlines) March 12, 2023
Six are leased from Airborne Capital, and 13 are from 777 Partners, a 25% partner in the Canadian airline.
Among the six Airborne Capital-owned aircraft with the registrations C-FLDX, C-FLKA, C-FLKC, C-FLKD, C-FLKI, and C-FLKJ, only C-FLKJ has flown on flight F8323 from Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) to Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) in the United States (US).
The sole 737 MAX connected to Airborne Capital that departed on a trip on March 13, 2023, is C-FLKJ.
The Airborne Capital-owned C-FLKA, C-FLKC, C-FLKD, and C-FLKI aircraft of Flair Airlines all made their final flights between March 10 and March 12, 2023.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the airline was “several days” behind on its aircraft payments, but this is insignificant when compared to Flair Airlines’ overall earnings, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
