The Canadian airline Flair had been operating for more than a decade as a charter airline, it was quite successful in that guise. However, it wanted to change its identity and business model and became the first independently owned low-cost carrier in Canada in July of 2017.
It changed from Flair Air to Flair Airlines, it revamped its classy livery around two years ago and now the budget carrier seems to be having another identity crisis. With money tight and loads not as high as hoped, the firm is wasting more money with a complete rebrand, including a new paint job to be afflicted to its fleet of aircraft. The new prime colour on its aircraft, website and all company branding is a lurid lime green. Gone are the stylish lines and sleek logo replaced with a splodge and bold type.
Flair operates a fleet of Boeing 737-400 and 737-800 aircraft and operates flights to 11 cities with an average of 178 flights a week. Like all low-cost carriers Flair charges for all services, seat selection is an average of $28.75 each, cabin bags are charged fees from $36.75 to an astronomical $92. Hold luggage fees range from $31.05 to $80.05 for the first bag, put a second case in the hold and it will cost you between $42.00 and $57.05. The firm also charges $2.50 for water and $15 to call them.
Will flying Flair save you money? Maybe, although we chose at random 28th February to 3rd March for a trip from Calgary to Vancouver, no baggage, no seat selection and found that Flair was more expensive than WestJet.
Flair has been struggling recently with flights not operating to schedule according to passenger comments on the Skytrax site where it ranks 3/10.
