Flair Airlines passenger jet seized at Region of Waterloo International Airport, three more seized across Canada

Several flights involving Flair Airlines were cancelled at the Region of Waterloo International Airport on Saturday after the airline had four aircraft seized as a result of a commercial dispute with a New-York based hedge fund and aircraft lessor.

One of those seized planes could be seen sitting on the tarmac at the Region of Waterloo International Airport on Saturday with covers over the plane’s turbines.

Several flights from the Region of Waterloo International Airport were cancelled after Flair Airlines had four planes seized across Canada. (Screenshot/Region of Waterloo International Airport)

The Region Of Waterloo International Airport arrivals and departures shows two cancelled Flair flights on Saturday, one trip to and from Orlando on a Boeing 737 Max 8 twin jet is cancelled along with flights to and from Fort Lauderdale on a Boeing 737-800 twin jet.

As well as the seizure in Waterloo, two aircraft were seized in Toronto and one in Edmonton.

The seizure came days before the start of March Break.

“Flair Airlines is committed to ensuring every customer affected by today’s unforeseen interruptions can get to their destination as soon as possible,” a spokesperson told CTV News Kitchener in an email. “We have updated all affected passengers that we have enlisted a dedicated team to support customers rebooking their flights with Flair Airlines, or another airline, at no additional cost.”

The airline said customers can rebook their own travel and receive a reimbursement within seven days.

“Flair Airlines is committed to getting our customers to their destination and will cover all costs for rebooking airfare for affected customers,” the spokesperson said.

The airline said its team is “dedicated to rebooking all affecting customers this weekend. We guarantee we will work to get you to your destination with minimal disruption.”

PASSENGERS IMPACTED

A man who was set to fly to Orlando with his family for March Break today said his flight was cancelled around 9 a.m.

Kyle Kelly said he received an email from the company outlining the flight’s cancellation due to unanticipated maintenance delays within the airline’s control, but required for safety.

Kelly said the airline tried to rebook him for Wednesday and offered him a hotel room in Kitchener. But his family instead is paying even more money now to still make their trip, buying brand new tickets for tomorrow out of Hamilton.

Kelly said he’s now paid more than a thousand dollars extra for the changes to still make the trip.

Andrea Thompson was supposed to fly from Halifax to Toronto this morning with her daughter. She says the flight was cancelled for the same reasons Kelly’s was.

“I managed to get myself on the flight from Halifax to Ottawa, ended up paying for it out of pocket myself,” said Thompson.

She said it ended up costing her $600 out of pocket for the train ride from Ottawa to Toronto, plus the new airfare costs.

“I’m going to finally arrive at my destination 11 hours after when I was supposed to be there,” said Thomspon.

According to Thompson, those who booked flights received an email saying the airline had unscheduled maintenance that was out of its control.

“I've now lost a whole entire day of our vacation, and we're only here until Tuesday morning. So I’m really angry. I'm tired,” she said.

In order to still make the trip they’d been planning for months, she purchased tickets to fly to Ottawa then purchased a train ride to Toronto.

Carrie Kennedy was scheduled to fly out on Sunday and said these cancellations and delays have left her feeling frustrated.

She was scheduled to fly out from Halifax and said the airline offered to rebook her a flight with the earliest departure date she was offered was on Thursday.

"Thursday is a lot longer than 72 hours - 72 hours would be Tuesday and we probably would have accepted Tuesday but not Thursday,” said Kennedy.

With files from CTV Toronto