Aviation in Canada will become a bit less competitive this weekend, as ultra low cost carrier Lynx Air ceases operations.
In this post:
Lynx Air will stop flying as of February 26, 2024
Lynx Air has announced that it will cease operations as of 12:01AM MT on Monday, February 26, 2024. The airline will continue operating through Sunday, but the company is telling people scheduled to travel on February 26 and beyond to contact their credit card company for a flight refund. Some other Canadian airlines are offering special fares for those who are impacted by Lynx Air’s closure.
The airline is blaming this unfortunate development on the compounding financial pressures associated with inflation, fuel costs, exchange rates, cost of capital, regulatory costs, and competitive tension. So yeah, that’s basically everything.
For those not familiar with Lynx Air, this is a Calgary-based ultra low cost carrier that launched operations in April 2022. The airline has operated a fleet of nine 189-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8s, though had plans to grow its fleet to 47 aircraft in the coming years.
Lynx Air has been flying to destinations across Canada, as well as to the United States, and even Mexico. In the United States, Lynx Air’s destinations have included Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Phoenix, and Tampa, with plans to also fly to Boston and San Francisco.
Canadian aviation is tough…
The airline business is challenging just about anywhere around the globe, but Canada is an especially tough market. Canada is a huge country (marginally larger than the United States in terms of land mass) with only 40 million people. Travel demand in the country is highly seasonal, and the population is heavily concentrated in several major cities (roughly 13 million people live in the greater Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver areas).
When you add up those factors, running an airline just isn’t easy. Despite that, we’ve seen all kinds of new startups in recent years, and on top of that, the existing players have continued to grow as well (like Porter, with its huge Embraer E195-E2 growth).
There’s a reason we’ve increasingly seen attempted acquisitions, partnerships, and even liquidations, because running an airline in Canada isn’t easy.
Bottom line
Less than two years after taking to the skies, Lynx Air is ceasing operations. The Canadian ultra low cost carrier has been flying Boeing 737 MAXs primarily out of Calgary. Unfortunately the business model just didn’t work out. Hopefully all the staff at Lynx Air are able to find jobs at other carriers.
What do you make of Lynx Air going out of business?
I had a flight booked with Lynx for this summer. I got an email saying they are ceasing operations and to contact your credit card company for a refund. They even went as far as saying don’t contact our call center, they won’t help you!
Maybe AA can restart Calgary and Vancouver service from PHX atleast seasonally, although getting to Canada during the AZ summer would be HUGE! Most Canadian airlines limit service during the summer.
Rest in peace, Lynx! We flew them not long after they started flying YYZ-YVR, and did it for $100 USD return.
We've flown low-cost airlines from Swoop to Flair to WestJet to Sunwing (a couple times). Lynx was the kindest - they only served water on board, were efficient in keeping the planes clean and they were timely. But that lack of auxiliary revenue probably didn't help. Especially compared to Flair (which I remember was...
Rest in peace, Lynx! We flew them not long after they started flying YYZ-YVR, and did it for $100 USD return.
We've flown low-cost airlines from Swoop to Flair to WestJet to Sunwing (a couple times). Lynx was the kindest - they only served water on board, were efficient in keeping the planes clean and they were timely. But that lack of auxiliary revenue probably didn't help. Especially compared to Flair (which I remember was a lot of yelling, plus a 10 hour delay on a return flight from Nashville!)
We reviewed those flights on video if you're interested in some newly minted nostalgia...
YYZ-YVR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pCpT4soAqk
YVR-YYZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8mgLHYoxJE
Canada is technically smaller than the U.S. in land area (AKA excluding water), just a fun fact. But definitely bigger than the lower 48 :)
There's no "technical" about it.
Landmass of Canada is 3.866mi2.
Landmass of the 50 US states is 3.797mi2.
If a Canadian wrote this article, they might take a stab at the US, saying how bad America is. Strange Canadian preoccupation to be bitter or jealous of America. You can see them filling up plastic containers or Jerry cans with American gas near the border probably cursing that the proce is so much lower.
Taxes to support a left wing government adds huge costs to fuel.
LOL typical seppo loser. Someone should lobotomise you with a rusty augur through an eye socket.
"If a Canadian wrote this article"
It wouldn't be anywhere near as nonsensical as what you gave us.
Dual US/Canada citizen here. Nobody in the US gives a hoot about Canada or Canadians. Yet the US lives rent free in the minds of Canadians. They feel very smug about Americans, a strange and completely baseless feeling of superiority. It is sad to see this airline fold. AC and Westjet need competitors.
Vermin like you are why right wing seppos are the trash of humanity. Congrats!
Someone said quickest way to become a millionaire is to start an airline. (If you are a billionaire that is).
I think it was Sir Richard Branson!
Kids today...Ricard Branson, hah. Nonsense. This is just a contemporary ripoff and never-ending mangling of a longstanding aviation industry joke (not just airlines, any business to do with flying) - it's been around since the 1920s - a hundred-year-old "dad joke." The original, and best version:
In this business, the best way to end up with a small fortune is to start off with a large fortune.
There, I fixed it for you.
It was Bob Crandall, executive of AA in the 70’s and 80’s who stated, “A lot of people came into the airline business. Most of them promptly exited, minus their money,"
RIP, competition made the fares ridiculous on transcon routes. 80 USD one way YEG-YYZ or YYZ-YVR on AC with lounge access through Star Alliance or a credit card. Meanwhile YYZ-YUL is consistently 120 USD for basic economy. Lynx represented about 3% of all domestic seats available. AC 53%, WS 30%, PD 12%, Flair the rest.
Good new for Boeing...frees up available slots for future MAX deliveries and puts several MAX models in the used airframe market. I'm sure several of these slots will be offered to Alaska should the AS/HA merger take hold.
Canada airports aren't subsidized like the US or EU and it's almost impossible to start an airline here. Hope Flair and Porter survive and would rather not be subject to the AC WJ duopoly.
I was reading an article about this yesterday. They mentioned how FLAIR had 70M in unpaid icome tax. Might want to avoid booking with them as well!
It will be a miracle if Flair survives, it's just a cattle car and is already facing financial headwinds.
Canada needs competition to AC and WestJet.
WestJet lost a lot of loyalty after the Calgary meltdown in early January.
Porter has carved a niche with the E 195s and quality service.
Porter took over. That’s all that needs to be said. So much better than Lynx or Flair and price is better than Air Canada and Westjet.
Porter hasn’t taken over anything. Chances are Westjet will snatch up those planes, routes and their slots as this company was based in Calgary and the Calgary airport has been working with Westjet to grow it. Furthermore porter is rarely able to fill up their planes as it stands currently.
Canada's market was too crowded given its size. We just can't support a large number of airlines like other parts of the globe.