2005–2008 The airline began operations as a privately owned company on August 19, 2005, under the name
Flair Air. In January 2006,
Transport Canada authorized the airline to operate scheduled all-cargo services between Cuba and Canada, on behalf of
Cubana de Aviación, until April 7, 2006. It also operated some passenger flights on behalf of Cubana. Flair Air operated two
Boeing 727-200 aircraft - one for passenger movements and the other for freight services. During this period, Flair also began providing workforce transportation services to several natural resources and major construction companies across Canada. Flair retained 85% of former NewLeaf staff in the acquisition, and the NewLeaf brand was retired on July 25, 2017, with flights subsequently operated under the Flair name thereafter. In late 2017, Flair Air rebranded as
Flair Airlines, in which it unveiled a new magenta and blue livery, acquired additional aircraft, and announced plans to add more in 2018 and 2019. Two more 737-400s arrived at the airline in December 2017. In 2018, Flair moved its headquarters from
Kelowna International Airport to
Edmonton International Airport, and
777 Partners invested in Flair with the goal of building a Canadian low-fare carrier. In December 2018, Flair received three leased
Boeing 737-800s. These were returned to lessor
Smartwings in 2019 as a separately leased trio of 737-800s arrived at the airline.
2019 rebranding–present in the 2019 livery In February 2019, Flair went through a "top to bottom" makeover, changing its signature colours from purple and red to acid green and black. This reflected the airline's new "Plane and Simple" branding. The brand makeover included a new livery that remains on the airline's 737-800s. New flight attendant uniforms were also rolled out in September 2019. In February 2020, Flair offered unlimited travel in the form of a one-time fee 90-day pass valid between February 13 and May 13, 2020. In August 2020, Flair retired their final Boeing 737-400 aircraft in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2021, Flair announced an order for 13 of the
MAX 8 variant
Boeing 737 MAX jet from financing partner
777 Partners, with plans to grow to 50 aircraft within 5 years. The first of these aircraft arrived in May 2021, with a total of 8 scheduled to arrive over the summer months. The remaining five were planned to arrive before 2022. This order came at a crucial time for Boeing, as it restarted MAX operations following a
months-long grounding of the type. All future aircraft deliveries to Flair were to be painted in an updated livery, which includes the airline's signature acid green and black colours, as well as subtle highlights of light purple. In December 2021, Flair ordered an additional 14 Boeing 737 MAX 8s.
Regulatory concerns In March 2022, the
Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruled that Flair may be in violation of the law that requires it to be controlled by Canadians, and stated that the airline's operating licence may be suspended. Flair denied that it was in violation of Canadian laws and asked for an 18-month exemption to address regulatory concerns. Jones stated that the company would overhaul its board and refinance its debt to reduce foreign influence on the company. The
National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents
Air Canada,
Air Transat, and
WestJet released a statement asking the CTA to reject Flair's request. In a statement issued on April 21, Jones stated that the airline had a "zero chance" of losing its operating licence and criticized the lack of competition in the Canadian airline industry. On June 1, 2022, the CTA allowed Flair to keep its operating licence after concluding the airline is Canadian.
Passenger complaints According to the
Canadian Transportation Agency, Flair had the highest number of complaints per 100 flights of the major airlines in Canada, averaging 15.3 complaints per 100 flights over the period of April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. In comparison, the largest two airlines in Canada,
Air Canada and
WestJet, had 4.3 and 6.6 complaints per 100 flights, respectively. The Canadian Transportation Agency again reported that Flair had the highest numbers of complaints in the first quarter of 2023, with 20.9 complaints per 100 flights. Low-cost leisure carrier
Sunwing Airlines received the second most complaints, with 17.4 complaints per 100 flights, while low-cost carrier
Lynx Air registered 5.2 complaints per 100 flights over the same period.
Aircraft seizures On March 11, 2023, Airborne Capital Ltd. seized four of its planes operated by Flair over alleged non-payment. In a press conference, Flair CEO Stephen Jones suggested the seizures were motivated by competitors, and that the airline owed around US$1million on the leases, and was in the process of making payment when the seizures occurred. The lessor, Airborne alleged that Flair had repeatedly missed payments amounting to several millions of dollars over a period of five months. Flair used other aircraft to continue to operate its schedule. In January 2024, it was reported that the lessors had filed claims at the
UK High Court for costs and that there had been outstanding payments of $1.8 million on the four aircraft when notice of default was served. ==Destinations==