Deadline arrives for Flair Airlines to respond to ownership concerns

Tuesday marks the deadline for Flair Airlines to respond to concerns it's not Canadian enough to operate in the country. But it could be months before there's a final call.

The deadline has arrived for Flair Airlines to respond to Canada’s transportation watchdog over foreign ownership concerns, but experts say we could be waiting weeks or months to find out the fate of the ultra-low cost carrier.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) found in a preliminary ruling released in March that Edmonton-based Flair might not be Canadian enough to qualify for its licences to fly in the country.

The watchdog set a May 3 deadline for Flair to formally respond to the concerns, giving the airline a 60-day window to get its balance sheets in order.

The CTA did not confirm whether Flair met this date on Tuesday, but said it would provide an “update” to the review on Wednesday.

The agency said a panel assigned to the case will review Flair’s submission and decide next steps from there, adding there is “no specific timeline” for when a decision will be made.

“The panel will consider all evidence and if it determines at the end of the process that Flair is not Canadian, Flair’s licences would be suspended,” a CTA spokesperson reiterated Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Flair also would not confirm Tuesday whether the airline had submitted its response, saying instead that “the airline is working closely with the CTA to resolve the matter, but would have no further status updates.”

“I think we have to be patient. It’s likely to run for another few weeks or months,” Frederic Dimanche, a tourism industry professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, told Global News on Tuesday.