RE:RE:Flair Airlines vs JetlinesJim Scott’s plan is to reduce their costs by 20% within the next few months. I’m not sure how he can do that just by renegotiating with their vendors for lower rates? What it will come down to is labour costs and we’ll see if Unifor will go for anything less for their group. Flair is already at a disadvantage in that they are running older 737-400 models which aren’t as efficient as the 737-800 variant which can hold 189 pax. Also I don’t buy into the ULCC model from Flair as they have additional seat pitch available at the front of the aircraft, with the option to bundle other things along with your ticket, which is essentially what WJA offers on their aircraft right now!
Swoop on the other hand has just grabbed 10 737-800 aircraft (189 config) from WJA and will leverage their existing infrastructure ( maintenance, dispatch, vendors etc) not to mention over 1.4 Billion in the bank to attempt to thwart any ULCC from gaining traction! Separate company or not Swoop’s sole mission is to protect WJA’s business. They will match every route, price point and level of service that Flair or Jet Too or JetLines can provide. It’s become apparent that WJ pilots won’t be flying Swoop airplanes so you can discount the Union increase in labour.
JetLines provides the best opportunity to break into this market in my view considering the management team and the BOD and selection of 737-800 A/C. I’ve got some money tied up here hoping they can secure a solid financing here given their overseas contacts and ULCC backgrounds. SG (CEO)has solid experience but Canadians travel differently than Americans and dislike being nickel and dimed for a paper boarding pass, carry on bags or a Pepsi!
Needless to to say the run up to June 2018 ( expected launch of Swoop and JetLines) should be interesting!
Garth