Flair Airlines planning to close Waterloo crew base, end international routes out of YKF

Flair Airlines is reducing its footprint at the Region of Waterloo International Airport.

In an email to CTV News Kitchener on Thursday night, Flair Airlines representatives confirmed the airline is planning to close its crew base at the airport, YKF, as of Sept. 3.

“We have a few dozen pilots and flight attendants as well as maintenance staff [at the Region of Waterloo International Airport],” Eric Tanner, Flair Airline’s Vice President of Commercial, told CTV News during an interview on Friday. “The pilots and flight attendants are going to be offered the opportunity to move to different parts of our network, to other bases, including Toronto, where many of them live very close by to.”

Although all flights that were already scheduled will take off as planned, in the future, Flair will no longer be offering international travel from the airport.

“That does not mean we are exiting the airport,” Tanner said. “There is a modest schedule reduction that will need to come with that as we reallocate assets to other parts of the business.”

Previously, Flair had offered flights to Orlando, Fla. and two Mexican destinations: Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

While most domestic destinations will still be offered, Tanner told CTV News Flair will be ending its flights to Abbotsford, B.C. in the future as well. There also may be fewer flights to choose from during the off-season.

“There will be some modest reductions, mainly in the shoulder season, but the beauty for us is that, especially during the summer, the routes that we fly into YKF are all other bases for us. So things like Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver – they’re all bases and we’ll continue to fly those routes when there’s demand. We’ll continue to fly Halifax year-round as it’s been a really wonderful market, and I know that there’s such an amazing connection between the Kitchener-Waterloo area and Halifax,” he said.

The changes are being made as Flair said it is expanding into charter operations. Although Tanner said there would be no direct layoffs due to the base closure at YKF, changes throughout the business could impact employees.

“Separately, as part of entering into these charter partnerships, the charter flying is less than our current scheduled network and so we are over on pilots generally. That’s a separate thing from the Waterloo base. We have notified [the Air Line Pilots’ Association] of the potential for a small number of layoffs which is part of our collective bargaining agreement with the union,” he said.

CTV News also reached out to the Air Line Pilots’ Association, who called the decision a “disappointment.”

“This news weighs on the pilot group, many of whom have ties to the community and have served passengers flying in and out of the region,” a statement from First Officer Aimee Wintle, Flair Airline’s master executive council chair, said. “At the same time, Flair pilots remain fully committed to working constructively with the company to navigate these challenges. We stand ready to collaborate on solutions that will help mitigate the impacts this decision may have on pilots and various other stakeholders.”

Flair facing financial pressures

When asked what drove the decision to enter into charter contracts, Tanner said diversifying the business was key to overall success.

“There’s a lot of macro-economic uncertainty out there,” he said. “That’s felt in industries across the spectrum and in countries around the world. Airlines are no different. We at Flair, we have to take steps to make sure we’re developing a diverse revenue stream. And so, we had an opportunity come to us to sign a long-term charter agreement. We are entering into that agreement and we’re very excited to share details about it in the coming weeks.”

Ultimately, part of the consideration came down to how many planes Flair has available.

“We don’t have any new aircraft deliveries, and so we have to find the aircraft time somewhere. That’s what leads us to have to make really challenging decisions about what is the best use of our airplanes,” Tanner said.

Flair has been considered a major component of the Waterloo Region International Airport, but it is not the only airline that flies out of YKF: Air Canada and WestJet also take off from runways in Breslau.

“In addition to Flair, YKF gives travellers the convenience of flying from home to destinations worldwide with service from WestJet and Air Canada. YKF remains an economic driver in Waterloo Region, supporting local employment, tourism, trade, and economic growth,” a statement from the Region of Waterloo, the owner and operator of the airport, said.

YKF’s Airport Director Chris Wood said he understood the decision.

“Of course we’d like to continually be growing, but I think Flair is doing what they need to do in order to maximize the use of their assets,” Wood said. “These are very expensive assets that they have, and they need to use them to their full potential. Flair’s been a great partner of ours, they’re a significant part of this airport, but they’re not the only thing going on at this airport. There’s 600 other people who work at this airport every day in a variety of different jobs.”

Wood said the international flights were quite popular, and passengers were also very fond of Flair’s Canadian destinations.

“Most flights go out of here full. Flair has created quite a demand with their lower fares. We had a record number of passengers last year use the airport,” Wood said.

Tanner said part of the pressure the airline is facing is due to high airport fees in Canada.

“If we really want to talk about getting affordability into air travel in this country, that’s where we need to start,” he said.