FLAIR AIRLINES: LET’S GO FLYING!

Once upon a time, air travel was a luxury to be experienced by few.

The very first passenger on a powered aircraft was in 1906. By the end of the First World War and more towards the mid 1930’s, the world started to move around in the air. The age of Air Travel had begun. Commercial aviation was born. A surplus of post World War 2 aircrafts were sold cheap and were converted to passenger flights.

At first, only the elite could travel. You had to be rich to be able to experience the luxury and the prestige of visiting other continents. The inconvenience was the time it took to go long distances. To cross an ocean by plane could take 15-18 hrs to go from Paris to New York. The first transatlantic flights were flown on giant flying boats (seaplanes).

Most of them were equipped with beds and a kitchen. Pure luxury but with a price. As time went by, airplanes got more refined and more powerful carrying more passengers to newer and further destinations. The world had no limit.

The biggest game changer was the invention of the jet engine. Airplane manufacturers were quickly designing new models with multiple jet engines designed to carry hundreds of passenger’s for long distances travelling at close to the speed of sound.

Passenger flying became a very lucrative business especially when the cost per ticket became more affordable. The age of jet transportation had begun. However, as the aircraft became more and more complex, the human factor became the weakest link. It took many years and many catastrophic crashes before we started to get safety nets in the day-to-day operations.

Nowadays, air travel has become as normal as taking the train or the bus. You can go from point A to point B and choose different airlines. There are different cabin classes for those who want to fly with more luxurious services. Unfortunately, flying was still inaccessible to all.

In Europe, the giants like Ryanair and EasyJet and WizzAir became synonymous with low-cost air travel. The low-cost model is quite simple, pack as many seats as you can in a 2 engine aircraft and basically turn it into a bus. Use seats with the least padding and eliminate all unnecessary services. Just fly them to their destinations.

In North America, the low-cost airlines such as Southwest Airlines were also proving that the low-cost model worked. Nowadays, air travel is still expensive even though you have choices of services.

A small privately owned Canadian airline was started in 2005 by providing cargo service to Cuba. It evolved eventually to a bigger and better company providing very low (ultra) low-cost airfare to North America. In 2017, it was rebranded to Flair Airlines and in 2019, it went through a complete makeover with different colors and logo.

Flair has become the Ultra Low Cost Carrier of Canada. Stephen Jones, who is at the helm, runs a tight but efficient ship. His background speaks for itself, ex EVP and Deputy CEO at WizzAir executive for many years. WizzAir is the 3rd largest Low-Cost airline in Europe. His business model and vision has been monumental in the success of the airline. He is envisioning a fleet of over 50 Boeing 737 Max in the next few years. His vision is Flair to be accessible to everyone in Canada without compromising on service, comfort and safety. Air travel for everyone!

The model is easy to understand. Provide comfortable seats at a very low price and charge for everything extra such as check in luggage, cabin service and other ancillaries. With all new fuel efficient Boeing 737Max and add extremely friendly and helpful cabin crews, with super low prices, it’s the recipe for success.

One of Flair’s unique factors that is above anyone else in Canada, is the Pilot Training and the Pilot Recruitment Department. Flair has the highest training standards than anyone else in North America. The Training is second to none. The devices used are 21st century and include VR (Virtual Reality) vision training. As for the pilots, each one of them are selected rigorously through a series of tests which take a day. Flair is the only airline in Canada that’s screened their pilots so extensively.

Finally, air travel is becoming as affordable as taking your car and going to visit a distant relative.

So, what are we waiting for? Lets go Flying!

I’m sure most of you know the iconic theme song sang by Ohio’s own Steve Carlisle for one of the greatest sitcoms of our generation.

iinta was invited this past weekend to Cincinnati for the Grand Opening of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame.