Flair Airlines CEO Maciej Wilk says the carrier is expanding and evolving its business approach beyond simply being an ultra-low-cost carrier into being a value-driven carrier. At the top of its distribution strategy is finding ways to target corporate travellers as well as Canadians who book with travel advisors.
“We do recognize this is a difficult environment to operate in — as we see outside the window — but also in terms of how the market works and the competition. We operate in an enormous country in terms of size, but with only 40 million people in it, we need to pursue every potential way to get those clients,” Wilk told Travel Courier in a one-on-one interview following a major snowstorm in Toronto. “We cannot depend only on selling tickets through Expedia and our own website while there are whole segments of customers that are using travel agents to book… we need to fill this gap urgently.”
The transformation from “a textbook ultra-low-cost carrier as you might see in Europe like Ryanair or Wizz Air into a tailor-made solution for the Canadian market,” includes leaning into stronger partnerships with the travel trade.
“We need to recognize that Canada is unique in many ways and needs a unique recipe to make this business work, and an essential part of it is establishing relationships with travel advisors and finding ways to really do proper business together,” Wilk shared during an intimate gathering with trade partners in the city earlier this month.
For starters, Flair has a dedicated B2B sales team in place and a newly launched agent portal, through which agents can make free flight changes up to seven days before departure and name corrections up to 48 hours before departure. Of note, Flair offers a commission of three per cent credit on agent’s accounts that can be used for future flights to improve their margins.
Meanwhile, Sales Manager Ryan Anderson says they’re also actively integrating with major GDS platforms. There’s also a lot of opportunity for agents who book groups and charter flights.
“For groups of 150+ passengers, our charter program provides complete flexibility with a private aircraft — a service rooted in Flair’s 20+ years of charter experience,” Anderson noted.
Looking ahead, Wilk added that Flair is seeking to roll out connections across its network.
“This is a big change. This will allow us to get much more potential customers, broaden the reach,” he added. “Introducing connections is one of the examples of how we’re stepping away from the hardcore ULCC business model… If we offer connections via Pearson then we multiply the potential customers.”
With the likes of Lynx Air and Canada Jetlines going out of business and Swoop operations integrating into WestJet, Wilk believes their approach to shifting the business model beyond being an ultra-low-cost carrier is part of what sets their approach apart for success.
“I think there’s been many challenges in the past, entering the market with a simple premise that we will do exactly the same as Ryanair and we will succeed. But no, it doesn’t work like this. In this particular geography, in this particular jurisdiction, you really need a tailor-made solution for the specificity of the market,” he explained. “Many people were recognizing the opportunity in the market but failing at execution. Three years ago we had three carriers wanting to win the same marketplace, specifically Lynx and Swoop, and perhaps to the surprise of many, Flair proved to be the most resilient, the last man standing in this struggle. I think this speaks for itself, we managed to win this competition. Now we are the value carrier of Canada.”
Although the books for 2025 haven’t been closed yet, Wilk said it’s “been the best performance ever,” but admittedly the carrier is still seeking another 10-15 per cent growth.
As for new routes, some of the recent additions include Montego Bay, Jamaica as well as Mexico City, Mexico.
“We’re also investing in Canadian domestic,” he added. “This year, we’re reintroducing St. John’s and we’re adding Moncton for the first time. We’re investing more than 50 per cent capacity to Halifax. We’re basically doubling down on the Maritimes because we see huge potential there. Clearly over the last year or so Canadians recognize that there’s a whole list of lovely places to visit in their country.”
In terms of reliability, Wilk noted that Flair, which currently has a fleet of 20, achieved the best airline on-time performance and completion factor in Canada for 2025.
“We’re happy to be officially called the most reliable airline in Canada in terms on-time performance and completion factor,” he said. “It’s not be bragging about it, I refer to a report published just recently by Cirium, which clearly states that we had 75 percent on-time performance in 2025 and 99 percent completion factor, and these are the best matrix in the market.”
Soon, Flair will be rolling out details about Flair Vacations, a bundled vacation product for air and hotel packages in partnership with HBX Group. The airline also recently introduced Flair Express, a priority airport experience that gives passengers who purchased a carry-on access to Zone 1 boarding and a faster, smoother check-in and boarding process where staff will be more lenient about bag restrictions. This includes priority lines and visual inspection for carry‑on items, supporting faster airport flow for most passengers.
“We’re open for business,” he shared. “What we can offer is more agility and flexibility than any operator in the country. I like to think that what others would do in a year, we will do in three months in terms of adaptation, introducing tools, new procedures. We’re very nimble and we really want to make this our strength. Also in our relationship with travel agents and travel advisors.”
