Travelers who had reserved seats on a Lynx Air flight in the coming days are having to scramble to find an alternative since the low-cost carrier announced Thursday evening that it will end its activities on Monday.
The Calgary-based company confirmed Thursday evening that it will cease operations at 12:01 a.m. MT on Monday, so all of its flights scheduled from then on are canceled. She urged her customers who already had reservations to contact their credit card company for a refund.
The carrier said it was unable to overcome financial pressures associated with inflation, fuel costs, exchange rates, cost of capital, regulatory costs and competition in the Canadian market. He therefore filed for protection against his creditors.
For travelers who had a flight planned in the coming days, the struggle is underway to find another option.
Jean-François Turcotte and his partner were supposed to leave Montreal next Friday to go to Las Vegas with 12 of their friends, but the closure of Lynx complicates their trip, a few days before departure.
The couple used the website Bookings.com to reserve seats on an outbound Lynx flight and a return Air Canada flight.
Mr. Turcotte admitted that the idea of canceling the entire trip crossed his mind, but that option became less appealing when he was told that Bookings.com would not refund the price of his tickets for his flight with Air Canada.
“According to what they told us on the phone, there is no impact on the return flight, so they consider that we can take it even if we no longer have an outbound flight,” he said. -he told in an interview with La Presse Canadienne.
“So now we have to decide whether to cancel the entire trip or find last minute tickets that will be much more expensive. »
According to Mr. Turcotte, tickets to Las Vegas are currently selling for more than $1,000 per person for next week. His tickets with Lynx had cost him $250 per person.
At the same time, his partner’s credit card company informed them that they would have to dispute the charges related to their reservation to obtain a refund, a process that would then take 14 days to determine an outcome.
Basically, no one has an answer on what to do. So we have to decide what we’re going to do without knowing what’s going to happen.
Jean-François Turcotte
WestJet offers help
Following Lynx’s announcement, WestJet offered assistance to passengers whose flights were canceled.
As such, the company will offer 25% off its base economy fares on non-stop routes it offers that were previously served by Lynx.
In addition, in order to repatriate Canadians traveling to the United States or a sunny destination, it will cap its economy class tickets at $250 plus taxes and fees for the flights concerned by next Thursday.
“We are working closely with government officials and support agencies who are also working to meet the needs of those affected,” WestJet added in a statement.
Natasha MacLean, who was traveling to Halifax on Friday to visit family, received an email around 10 p.m. Thursday informing her that the return flight she had booked through Lynx in 10 days had been canceled.
From Toronto, she had to book a new round-trip flight at double the price.
“This is my first time flying with Lynx and I can’t say I’m impressed with the customer service with this late notice,” she said. It’s a lot of stress, anxiety and disappointment. »
Impacts for employees
Beyond the immediate impact that will affect travelers, Lynx employees will also be affected by the closure of the carrier. According to the Air Line Pilots Association International, 160 pilots and crew members will be affected.
At the end of last year, Lynx Air employed about 500 people — 390 in Alberta and 110 in Ontario — according to an affidavit filed Thursday by the company’s acting chief financial officer, Michael Woodward, in the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta.
The document states that Lynx operates a uniform fleet of nine Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Analyst Cameron Doerksen of National Bank Financial noted in a note to investors that the closure of Lynx illustrates the challenges associated with the low-cost carrier model in Canada, given the higher costs of the airline sector than in other countries. other countries.
Mr. Doerksen noted that one of Lynx’s backers was Indigo Partners, a successful private equity investor in many low-cost airlines around the world.
“The fact that even with the help of an experienced investor, Lynx Air was unable to sustain its ultra-low-cost model strategy nor was it able to find additional capital to maintain its activities demonstrates the challenges that any emerging airline faces in Canada,” he maintained.
He added that the closure of Lynx should have positive implications for the country’s largest carriers, including Air Canada and Air Transat.
With information from Maan Alhmidi in Toronto