Achi news desk-
Flair Airlines chief executive Stephen Jones will retire this summer after more than three years at the helm of the discount retailer.
The CEO’s tenure spanned a turbulent period for the seven-year-old company as the airline expanded its fleet but also hit financial fronts amid fierce competition.
Flair said Tuesday that a recruitment process for a replacement is underway and that chief operating officer Maciej Wilk has been named interim CEO until the board selects a successor. Jones is expected to resign on June 28, he said.
The Edmonton-based airline’s 20-plane fleet will “continue to operate as normal” during the transition, even as some disruptions from the past 18 months remain, the company said.
In a telephone interview from Toronto, Jones said he felt ready to retire and faced “no pressure to move on.”
“I’m at an age and stage in my life where I want to achieve some other goals,” said Jones, who turns 63 in a couple of weeks.
“I’ve been working almost non-stop for 40 years – and some pretty tough jobs.”
With a CV that includes a stint with budget carrier Wizz Air in Hungary and almost a dozen years at Air New Zealand, Jones took over at Flair barely six months after the onset of COVID-19, facing the task scary of leading an airline. when global travel was largely shut down.
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Flair was reduced to one operational aircraft by April 2021 as it canceled almost all of its routes amid the ongoing pandemic. The chief executive expanded its stock of leased aircraft significantly within a few years, but has also faced its share of obstacles.
Jones sounded the alarm over what Flair claimed were deliberate attempts by larger rivals to hinder its growth by launching routes alongside Flair’s and then dropping them as soon as the budget carrier exited the market.
In March 2023, a Dublin-based leasing company seized four Boeing 737 Maxes – more than a fifth of its fleet – over allegations that Flair had repeatedly failed to pay, leading to the cancellation of multiple flights. At the time, Jones said the airline was only “a few days in arrears” with about $1 million owed on the jetliners.
Earlier this year, Jones put expansion plans on hold as the carrier grappled with delays in aircraft deliveries and large debts, including $67 million in unpaid federal taxes related to import duties on its jets in November. The payment plan remains “on track,” he said Tuesday.
Nevertheless, things are looking up for the fierce airline.
“The revenue environment is much, much stronger this coming summer than it has been in previous years,” Jones said, minutes after a virtual town hall with about 300 of the airline’s 1,250 employees.
“The business is in good shape and I assured them that it is actually in the best shape I have ever seen.”
He declined to say whether the carrier would turn a profit this year, noting that its funding is private.
Jones also renews his constant calls over the past few years for an industry overhaul. He called on the government to enable more Canadians to fly by reducing airline costs through reforms that would open the gate to lower airport fees and a higher ownership threshold for foreign players. The upper limit is currently 49 percent, and one company is not allowed to control more than a quarter.
“You get Canadians stuck on the couch because it’s an expensive system now,” he said.
Jones, who hails from New Zealand, said he hopes to spend more time sailing and visiting his daughters “in different parts of the world” over the next few years.
“I love Canada,” he said. “I really enjoy living in Vancouver, so I will still spend a lot of my time here.”
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press