25 FEB 2019: Citing “disappointing load factors,” ultra-low-cost carrier Flair based in Kelowna, B.C., has suspended some of its seasonal service to US destinations approximately six weeks earlier than scheduled. Service to Miami and St. Pete-Clearwater in Florida will end ahead of schedule, as will flights to Palm Springs, California.

While the seasonal schedules to some previously untried city pairs proved disappointing, flights to other US destinations, including service to Orlando out of Winnipeg, and Las Vegas and Phoenix routes out of Edmonton and Winnipeg, will continue as planned. Canadian schedules continue as usual.

Flair says it is in the process of contacting all affected passengers and providing them with full refunds or alternative travel arrangements.

The airline said that the early suspension of services on the seasonal routes was not a decision it took lightly and it explored various other options prior to coming to the decision.

A CBC news report quoted business professor Barry Prentice at the University of Manitoba saying cancelling flights with short notice will cost the airline in terms of its reputation in the short term, but ultimately it was probably right as a business decision if passenger loads weren’t what they anticipated.

“They have to cover all their costs and they’re not getting enough traffic, then they obviously have to suspend their operations,” he told CBC News. “I think they’re they’re being very responsible in their actions.”

Flair chief executive Jim Scott said in December that predatory pricing and scheduling by WestJet cost his budget carrier $10 million over four months and placed it in jeopardy as a “David and Goliath” battle culminated in an investigation by Canada’s competition watchdog.

On Dec. 11, the Federal Court of Canada’s chief justice ordered a WestJet vice-president to appear before the Competition Bureau to explain the airline’s tactics.