Are we in a Business Model Transition?

[SaddestFlairy]

Writing on on behalf of many of the Pilots, as it seems the only answers we can find at are when they're made publicized in an online forum instead of going through official Company Channels. Like how we won't have a flight ops meeting until the new year when we have many issues needing address.

There are many articles online of our companies leadership criticizing that other airlines strayed too far from their business model and are in turn struggling with an "Identity Crisis" As they're trying to do everything, yet they can't succeed in any of those fields. Instead, they strengthened the idea that we had CLEAR direction and identity. We made the promise that we were going to be Canada's TRUE ULCC Airline and it didn't matter what it took, we were going to get there. We had a GOAL to have 50 Aircraft online by 2025 and provide access to travel for ALL Canadians, not just the wealthy as it had been for so many years prior through the duopoly. We were going to disrupt the Canadian Aviation Market, providing low fares to all. The PLAN to achieve this was by following the Proven ULCC Model, which meant cutting all unnecessary costs allowing the customer to pick and choose how much they wanted to spend on travel, and this was possible through the money saved by operating out of cheaper airports and tankering fuel out of cheaper destinations while providing minimal overnights for crews.

We weren't just sold a job by the hiring team, we were sold a Dream. A Dream that we could be home with our family more and be paid fairly, A Dream that we could make a difference not only for ourselves, but for all Canadians. This is the Dream everyone at Flair bought into.

Now we aren't dumb, we fully recognize Canada is a completely different ballgame. We have expensive operating costs, Higher Taxes, Fuel Costs, De-Icing Fees and not to mention the sheer size of this country - delivering a ULCC experience was going to be tough, but not impossible. We had STRONG LEADERSHIP, A MISSION, A PLAN, A GOAL AND A DREAM that we promised to deliver. We realized we may end up in a hotel for a night here or there to reset our duty times, and that we were going to have to work out the kinks

Fast forward to today. We've had our ups and downs. From the CTA to the Aircraft Seizures, we've been put through it a few times now - but we manage to keep coming back like a bad case of termites. But through those bumps in the road, it seems as if we went into full reactivity mode. Our Leadership has been slipping more and more to where we don't hear from them for weeks or now, months on end. Our MEC is unfortunately no where to be found. Our DARTS tend to go nowhere. We no longer mention F50 in our company and realized growth has unfortunately come to a complete standstill.

Recently we have been advertising ourselves as an "Affordable Leisure Airline" which is VERY different from a ULCC. Not in the sense that we aren't offering affordable airfare - because we are - but each change we make in this airline we seem to be straying further and further from the Traditional ULCC Model.

We had Zero Overnights prior to the winter schedule being released, with the new winter schedule we have 5 and 6 day pairings. This is NOT apart of the ULCC Platform. And this isn't just to reset our duty times, but we are even sending pilots to work out of eastern bases just like ports, and even having pilots sit in hotels on reserve out of base. How is this a cost cutting measure? Seems like a bandaid fix to an attrition issue that the company has induced onto itself by veering from their original plan.

How can we continue to operate in this Identity Crisis that we promised we would not venture into? We are no longer cutting costs through expensive hotels, perdiems and crew costs, and no one seems to have a clear direction or guidance on where we are going or what our goal is anymore. We are Lacking Leadership on ALL Levels and Communication is at an all time low through all of our company channels. It seems like we are just trying to keep our head above water, and we will worry about what happens next when the next wave comes.

We don't want Lies, We don't want Sugarcoating, and we don't care about the Intent that something was negotiated in. We care about deciding if we are in a transition, or if we are going to keep pushing for our goal of being Canada's TRUE ULCC.

I am Proud to be a Flair Pilot, I am happy we are trying to make a difference in Canadians Lives. I Don't Want to Leave. I do think our Leadership has done an incredible job seeing what has been thrown at them. The issue is the more the company pushes us to the side and follows the Carrot dangling in front of them to try something else, the more pissed off they're making their employees and having them feel like they're being taken advantage of. We're tired of the Bait and Switch, we can fix our retention issue by keeping to our promise of providing a ULCC experience. We always hear "You either have the Lifestyle, or the Pay" and we can easily fix our Retention issue by changing one of these factors. Either we Get a Pay Raise to be Compensated for the disruption in lifestyle, Or we get the lifestyle back that we were promised in our Mission, Our Plan and our Promise.

Let's make a Decision, are we Transitioning Business Models? Are we Canada's True ULCC or are we transitioning to Canadas Affordable Leisure Airline?

If so - Lets take one step back. Let's get everyone on board and take the division out of our employee group. Lets keep pilots instead of bleeding them. Let's sell all employees to the mission that Flair wants to move forward with so we can collectively work towards it as a unified company and get our excitement back.

[beefcheese]

This. I couldn't agree more.

[rudder]

That post won’t help a lot with retention or recruiting, but it deserves a gold star for truth in advertising.

‘Et caveat emptor’ for pilots looking to Flair as a career or even a stop on the way.

[Flairpilot]

I agree, entirely. It’s time for Steven Jones to pack up and set sail back to NZ, and take Eric Tanner with him. Get back to our core routes, and resist the temptation to reinvent the damn wheel.

[afterburner&smoke]

Seems that would be needed. Install proper leadership, get Mr. JetBlue out of the office along side the ceo and start fresh. Flair seems all over the place.

Lost 4 planes earlier this year, yet ceo says it's only a million and a couple days late. By now everyone and anyone knows this was mismanagement at its finest, yet the ceo remains. Something like that happens elsewhere and someone high up loses his job.

Eric Tanner has next to no experience, doesn't know Canadian market and cities, yet he remains.

The MEC managed to pass a very poorly written contract which is taken advantage of by the company at all turns, never defended by the aforementioned MEC with intent being the word of the year at Flair.

Australia seems an absolute disaster. Put together with glue and tape.

The number of planes with utilization worth mentioning lately is ridiculously low. Hopefully for Flair, this is just a very low season and will be picking up.

Hourly pay is barely enough to qualify as pay in today's market, even worse if talking about 737 skipper money.

Scheduling is a joke. You guys went with SG who was let go from Sunwing for being just the worst and who is now managing your scheduling team. Good luck with that. You hit the jackpot with the most hated sched guy in the northern hemisphere.

Here's an idea for you. Go back to an actual ULCC business model. Get rid of SJ, SG and ET. Give your pilots hourly wages that make it worth their while to cope with the start up side effects. Stop fucking around with promises of a base not to open it afterwards (YUL), or closing it down (YXX, YOW). Give your guys and gals schedules they can live with. And here's a genius move: if it gets a little hard financially, raise your base fares by 10$ a ticket. It will be completely insignificant for your customers and will have you able to carry on with real competitive salaries.

Good luck.

[mmm...bacon]

https://youtu.be/_8mduTEvnU0?si=sI6Q1P78ZDo9Hvsj

[Core]

Perhaps after a few years of operation they're realizing the economics as planned aren't working? Even the best market analysis is just speculation, and you can only buy market share for so long till the well runs dry.
I sincerely hope they figure something out, it's nice to have low cost options, and to have forced the majors to offer some comparable fares.

[flying4dollars]

As a long standing ex Flair pilot , reading this makes me sad for the many friends I still have over there. At one point in my career, I believed I'd never leave given the management and crews we had at the time. The vision, the tenacity and the resolve of the company after the pandemic and former leadership prior to SJ was inspiring. I surely wish the crews there the best outcome and surely hope they can restore the culture before it's too late.

[7ECA]

Speaking of a lack of communication...

Aviation Incident Report #18400: A Flair Airlines Ltd. Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-FFBC) had failed the fire suppression test and had been flying for 2 days with baggage after this failed test. On September 4th, this fact was discovered by the Edmonton (YEG) Maintenance Control Centre (MCC). At this point, all stations that were receiving this plane were informed that there were not to be any bags loaded. C-FFBC operating as flight FLE102 departed from Vancouver, BC (CYVR) at 13h42L and CYVR was advised not to load bags at approximately 2142Z. CYVR loaded all bags in the aircraft, management was notified immediately, and they advised the flight to continue. The aircraft was over Lethbridge at this point. The Pilot-in-Command (PIC) was notified via Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) around this time that no bags were supposed to be loaded by the Chief Pilot. This aircraft was still not diverted to Calgary, AB (CYYC) or back to CYVR. The aircraft landed at its original destination of Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau, QC (CYUL) at 21h07L without further incident.

[Aviator12]

This photo to me symbolizes Flairs new business model…
What a mess

[MaxAuto]

This photo to me symbolizes Flairs new business model…
What a mess

Did they really have to use purple? They just should've use black letters on the fuselage and white on the tail to replace "Flair"

[newlygrounded]

Speaking of a lack of communication...

Aviation Incident Report #18400: A Flair Airlines Ltd. Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-FFBC) had failed the fire suppression test and had been flying for 2 days with baggage after this failed test. On September 4th, this fact was discovered by the Edmonton (YEG) Maintenance Control Centre (MCC). At this point, all stations that were receiving this plane were informed that there were not to be any bags loaded. C-FFBC operating as flight FLE102 departed from Vancouver, BC (CYVR) at 13h42L and CYVR was advised not to load bags at approximately 2142Z. CYVR loaded all bags in the aircraft, management was notified immediately, and they advised the flight to continue. The aircraft was over Lethbridge at this point. The Pilot-in-Command (PIC) was notified via Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) around this time that no bags were supposed to be loaded by the Chief Pilot. This aircraft was still not diverted to Calgary, AB (CYYC) or back to CYVR. The aircraft landed at its original destination of Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau, QC (CYUL) at 21h07L without further incident.

The captain realized that the chief pilot never loaded any bags so the flight was OK to continue

[Gino Under]

I’d say part of the reason Flair is floundering could be due to the fact management came from different lands and presently aren’t demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of Canadian airline history or passenger traffic cycles.

It’s easy to understand why panic could be starting to creep into Flair management’s handling of the airline at present.
I think the Canadian market must still be foreign to them.

SJ has taken his eye off the road just long enough to have deviated from the original ULCC model. I have to wonder when heads will roll.

Gino Under

[Jester123]

All signs point to the burning ships of Rome. Get the hell out while the hiring at other airlines is going on. When leadership fails to communicate effectively, the writing could not be more clearer on the wall.

[Michel Myers]

They are communicating…just not to people like you on this forum. They explained the reasons for the focus on sun destinations during the winter months via several town halls and despite a significant amount of cancellations and delays due weather and maintenance over the holiday the loads have been great and yields on the upward trend.

Now as for CBA compliance and Pilot retention that’s what warrants the dissatisfaction and concern.

[rookiepilot]

They are communicating…just not to people like you on this forum. They explained the reasons for the focus on sun destinations during the winter months via several town halls and despite a significant amount of cancellations and delays due weather and maintenance over the holiday the loads have been great and yields on the upward trend.

Now as for CBA compliance and Pilot retention that’s what warrants the dissatisfaction and concern.

Its all inconvenient fake news.
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?t=209468

[thepoors]

Hourly pay is barely enough to qualify as pay in today's market, even worse if talking about 737 skipper money.

These dummies voted a resounding "yes" to the crap contract they have. Has everyone already forgotten they were "Canada's highest paid FO's" ...for all of 5 minutes?

No sympathies there. A lot of this is self-inflicted.