Flair Airlines says four of its aircraft seized in a 'commercial dispute'

Passengers travelling with Flair Airlines were "impacted" on Saturday after four of its leased aircraft were seized in Toronto, Edmonton and Waterloo, Ont., in what the company described as a "commercial dispute." A statement from the air carrier called the move by "a New York-based hedge fund" to take the aircraft "extreme and unusual." It said Flair would use "additional fleet capacity" to lessen the effects on passengers, adding it did not foresee any major disruptions to its route map. Company spokesman Mike Arnot said a number of Flair flights were cancelled Saturday morning, but the company had three spare aircraft to backfill those flights. Arnot says passengers travelling in the next 72 hours will either be accommodated on Flair flights or another airline at Flair's expense if a Flair flight isn't available. An update from the company later Saturday added that customers can also rebook their own travel and receive a reimbursement within seven days. A person familiar with the matter but who was not authorized to speak publicly about it said the payments for the affected planes were only a few days behind and the amount owed was small relative to Flair's overall revenue. "We are truly very sorry passengers were impacted today, and are taking steps to get them on their way with minimal disruption. This includes repositioning our spare aircraft to support operations," the company's statement said.<br/>