Even with zero monthly lease payments, (and the owner of those -400’s didn’t buy those birds and put them into service with the idea of getting no return on his investment), they have horrible economics. They can’t get anywhere near the daily utilization of 3 year old -800’s.
Add more seats and their range is reduced, making them even less suitable for off peak ACMI work...remember Transat’s “Mexican game”? Go full density and even west bound winter trans con flying is problematic. It’s simply the wrong airplane.
Flair will implode fairly quickly as Swoop gets going with its economics and the sorts of fares that will hit the markets Swoop will focus on.
In an incredibly dumb move, Flair backed down on charging fees for cabin baggage, a source of revenue that is absolutely vital to survival for ULCC’s when offering and advertising el cheapo fares. Revenue has to come from somewhere.
The outcome is inevitable and is why Jim R pulled the ‘chute on the thing, with Flair / New Leaf on their 3rd management team since launch.
