There’s a change at the top for Kelowna’s ultra low-cost air carrier Flair Airlines.
Jim Scott, who led another low-cost airline, Canada Jetlines, from 2012 until last year, is taking over from Flair founder and former president Jim Rogers as chief executive officer.
Rogers, who will remain as an advisor to Flair Airlines for the next year, has sold his shares in the company.
The move comes six months after Flair, which was providing the planes and crews for discount air ticket seller NewLeaf Travel Company, bought out NewLeaf and renamed the company Flair Airlines Ltd.
Rogers said he feels there is no one better to take over leadership at Flair than Scott, given the airlines plans to expand it’s route network.
Flair currently flies between seven Canadian cities—Kelowna, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Toronto—and plans to announce more routes later this year. It’s fares can be as low as $39 but there are add-on fees for many aspects of its service, including seat selection, itinerary changes and even for carry-on bags.
Scott, a former airline pilot said he is looking forward to the challenge of running what is known in the industry as an “ultra low-cost carrier.”
It faces competition from Canada Jetlines and WestJet’s recently announced low-cost carrier Swoop.
“We will drive forward significant improvements in customer experience, operate with reliability and execute with an impressive team in a competitive market,” said Scott.
In addition to Scott, Jerry Presley will become the the company’s new executive board chairman, representing the majority stakeholder investment group.
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