Airline industry officials in shock after Lynx announces shutdown
No sign of distress related to low-cost carrier's operations: Regina airport boss
Last month, Lynx Air announced it would add Regina to its network starting in June. However, plans to expand Canada's newest ultra-affordable airline to Saskatchewan are no longer taking off, as the Calgary-based carrier is ceasing operations on Monday.
“This news from Lynx really was a shock for, I think, all of us in the industry,” Regina Airport Authority chief executive James Bogusz said in an interview Friday, adding it didn't seem like the airline was under any distress.
“There's been a significant amount of positive news coming from the airline.”
Lynx was slated to operate services from Regina to Vancouver and Toronto, with six weekly flights on each route in and out of Regina to both cities. The flights would have operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
While the airline never started operating in Regina, Bogusz said the departure will impact hundreds of Lynx employees across the country, who will lose their jobs. The airline employed around 500 people across Canada.
The company put tremendous work into the growth and expansion of Lynx Air over the past two years, it said on its website, and cited several factors that led to the decision to shut down, such as soaring fuel expenses, regulatory costs, and rising airport charges in Canada.
A release from the airline said it successfully filed for creditor protection from the Court of King's Bench of Alberta under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
Bogusz said the competitiveness between Canadian airlines makes it difficult to start a new airline offering like Lynx.
“One of the things that we have the luxury of is the fact that we are so near Westjet's global hub. ... Westjet (is) offering really reasonable fares that they call basic, simply meaning it's cost competitive with an ultra low-cost carrier but it's on a main line carrier's fleet,” he said.
“Customers have been enjoying far lower fares, almost right across the board, to most city centres compared to, let's say, two years ago. What a difference it is.”
The front page of Lynx's website, which has a list of answers to frequently asked questions, said travellers with flights booked from Monday, Feb. 26, onward should contact their credit card company in order to get a refund, as their contact centre won't be available.
“The other disappointing news, to be frank, is I saw on their frequently asked questions that if you had a voucher or a travel credit with Lynx, of course it will no longer be honoured because the airline will no longer be operating,” Bogusz said.