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Canada Jetlines will be back.
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The startup airline was to fly out of Calgary this summer but instead will contract out one of its two planes and crews until Sept. 5.
Duncan Bureau, chief commercial officer for Canada Jetlines, said the airline remains committed to the city as a destination.
“We’re very bullish on Calgary,” he told Postmedia. “We only have two aircraft so we can’t fly every operation we’d like to fly at this point. As we add aircraft, we will increase our frequency and the number of stations that we operate in Canada.”
The airline took flight on Sept. 22, 2022, offering premium leisure air travel, and currently has destinations in Cancun, The Riviera Maya and Las Vegas, flying out of Ontario from Mississauga, Niagara Falls and Toronto.
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Its fleet consists of two Airbus A320s with plans to have 15 A320s by the end of 2025. Jetliner is hoping to have an additional two or three aircraft in operation by the end of the year.
It also has plans to expand operations as a tour operator this summer with the launch of Jetlines Vacations, to connect customers with three-to-five-star hotel properties in the Caribbean and Mexico.
Lynx Air celebrates one year
Meanwhile, Calgary-based Lynx Air will celebrate one year of flying on Friday. Since its initial flight to Vancouver, it has welcomed more than 620,000 passengers and is ramping up to 250 flights a week for the summer.
While Calgary remains its biggest hub, the airline also has a second hub in Toronto, with flights across Canada and to sun destinations.
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Its latest expansion includes Montreal and Fredericton as destinations. Merren McArthur, president and CEO of Lynx, said there is significant opportunity in Eastern Canada with a lack of ultra low-cost carriers in the region.
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Its fleet is set to grow from six Boeing 737 Max airplanes to 10 by the end of 2023, and orders have been confirmed for another 36 to be delivered by the end of 2028.
“There’s plenty of room to grow,” said McArthur. “The low-cost carrier model is the most profitable airline model in the world right now. So we’re feeling very positive about it.”
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She said the airline is at 80 per cent capacity on most flights, and 90 to 100 per cent on long hauls. This summer, the airline will increase to 12 destinations out of Calgary with 115 flights a week, a 76 per cent increase from last year.
Lynx has performed well in first year: analyst
Lynx is competing with an aggressive expansion from Porter Airlines — which offers a higher level of service — ultra low-cost competitor Flair, vacation-focused Sunwing, WestJet’s Swoop and Air Canada’s Rouge.
Rick Erickson, a Calgary-based analyst, said the success of an airline depends on how deep their pockets are and the ability to withstand losses for multiple years following launch.
He said Lynx has performed well in its first year, particularly in its ability to offer cheaper flights while not being forced to cancel or reschedule flights.
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“They’ve recognized that what customers don’t want is challenges and problems,” he said. ” ‘Let’s just go about our business and build confidence in our traveller base,’ and I think they’re doing that.”
Potential WestJet pilot strike
There are turbulent skies ahead for the airline industry, however, with WestJet’s Air Line Pilots Association members launching a strike authorization vote on Monday that will take place over a 15-day period. If given approval, the bargaining team could call for a strike following a three-week “cooling-off period” set to begin following the completion of a federal conciliation process on April 24.
The two sides have not been able to come to terms after six months of negotiations. In 27 years of operation, WestJet has never had a labour stoppage. In a statement, WestJet said this is a common negotiation tactic and does not mean a strike will occur, noting the company remains committed to the process and working with ALPA to reach an agreement.
Erickson said WestJet holds about 40 per cent of the Canadian domestic market, and said a strike would hit Calgary the hardest.
“We would have some significant challenges here in Calgary for passengers to get to whatever destination they wanted to,” said Erickson. “Ultra low-cost carriers . . . and I’m sure Air Canada, would be quite pleased to have traffic coming over to them.”
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