Flair Airlines files $50 million lawsuit against leasing companies over plane seizures
Flair Airlines has launched a $50 million lawsuit against several aircraft leasing companies over the seizure of four of its planes last Saturday.
The suit, which was filed with the Ontario Superior Court on Tuesday, claims that Airborne Capital Inc. and three other affiliated leasing firms “secretly” found a better deal for the Boeing 737 Maxes with a third party, reported The Canadian Press.
The companies then allegedly “set up Flair,” escalating to a repossession of the planes, which the filing claims was noncompliant with the lease’s agreements.
“Airborne Capital’s unlawful and immeasurably destructive actions were taken on the first weekend of many of our customers’ school breaks,” Flair told Daily Hive in an email statement.
“This is profiteering on the backs of Canadians and was entirely unexpected and unwarranted. As a result, on March 14th 2023, Flair Airlines filed a lawsuit against Airborne Capital with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.”
The filing claims that the leasing companies sent agents to airports in Toronto, Edmonton, and Waterloo at 3 am EST on Saturday to confiscate the registration certificates and technical logs on board.
Today, we experienced some service disruptions at YEG, YYZ & YKF. We are very sorry to our passengers who were impacted. We know unforeseen interruptions to travel are stressful, and we are doing everything we can to get our customers to their destinations as soon as possible 1/4
— flair airlines (@FlairAirlines) March 12, 2023
Flair said it received no notice, preventing the carrier from warning or rebooking passengers, reported The Canadian Press.
Travellers certainly felt the repercussions of the sudden plane seizures. One Canadian, unfortunately, missed his daughter’s baby shower due to the incident.
Earlier this week, Airborne Capital says the planes were seized because Flair “regularly” failed to meet its payments
“Airborne Capital strongly rejects the allegations that have been made by Flair Airlines in recent days in relation to four Airborne-managed aircraft,” the company said in a statement to ch-aviation.
“The leasing of the four Airborne-managed aircraft was terminated following a five-month long period, during which Flair was regularly in default of its leases by failing to meet its payments when due, with payment arrears reaching millions of dollars.”
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