Want more low-cost flight options in Canada? Flair's outgoing CEO says the rules need to change

Stephen Jones, the outgoing CEO of Flair Airlines, has a message for Canadian air travelers: the country needs viable low-cost carriers. But Jones warns under the current rules, trying to compete with what he calls the Big Two — Air Canada and WestJet — is "a really tough game." 

The 63-year-old airline executive, who's stepping down at the end of the month, dropped by CBC's Vancouver newsroom for a candid conversation about the future of Flair and the airline business in this country. 

"It's a tough industry globally, but certainly here in Canada, the industry has been dominated by the two big players for decades now," said Jones.

"We think that Canadians were paying too much for too long and so we needed to come in and disrupt it. And I think we've done that."

Flair promises customers "unbeatable fares every day." The Edmonton-based company says it operates 20 aircraft, serving 36 destinations operating, on average, 450 flights a week.

But with the demise of Lynx Air earlier this year — joining the list of Canadian discount airlines that couldn't stay in business, Flair remains the only ultra-low cost airline flying within Canada. 

The problem has been flagged by Competition Bureau Canada, which said last month that low-cost carriers do lead to reduced fares, but "seem to face more difficulties in Canada compared to other countries." 

The bureau is doing what it calls a market study. One of the things it's looking at is the state of competition among airlines, and it will be taking public input until Monday.

As Jones prepares to leave Flair, he shared what he says needs to change in order for smaller airlines to provide low cost flights to Canadians and push the bigger carriers to lower their prices.

One of the problems, says Jones, is what he considers predatory business practices by bigger airlines. He cites WestJet's now discontinued discount airline, Swoop, which the company shut down in 2023. 

In Jones's view: "Swoop wasn't created to foster competition. Swoop was created to quell competition. It was a deliberate tool in the WestJet portfolio that they used to chase us around the market."

Jones said an example of that is what happened with service between Edmonton and Comox, B.C., on Vancouver Island, which Flair started offering in 2022.

"We started that route and within a month Swoop had started that same route on the same days at the same time as us. We ultimately couldn't survive there. We left and then Swoop left."

CBC News asked WestJet about Jones's allegation. Madison Kruger, speaking for the airline, didn't directly address it, but wrote in a statement, "Historically we have never gone on record to refute the commentary of a competitor."