Flair CEO says bigger rivals 'want us out' as airline scrambles after plane seizures

The head of Flair Airlines went on the offensive Monday, saying the weekend seizure of some of its planes may have been instigated by another carrier attempting to disrupt Flair's operations. Four leased jetliners, on which payments were overdue, were grounded Saturday after a "commercial dispute" with New York-based Airborne Capital Inc., Flair said. CEO Stephen Jones said the growing presence of Flair and other discount carriers is a threat to the country's two major airlines. “We’ve come in and upset the cozy duopoly, and as a consequence people want us out of business," Jones said at a news conference on Monday. "And we do believe that there were negotiations going on behind the scenes between one of the majors and the lessor to hurt Flair by them offering probably above-market rates for the aircraft we’ve been leasing." He did not offer any specifics to back up the claim. "While I’m not going to name names or cite evidence, I believe that there is much more to this picture than the surface that you see,” Jones said. Peter Fitzpatrick, spokesman for No. 1 carrier Air Canada, said the company had not spoken to any of Flair's lessors, "nor have they come to us offering their aircraft." The four Boeing 737 Maxes were "only a few days in arrears" with about $1 million owing, "which is about half of one day's sales for us," Jones told reporters. Two additional 737s leased from Airborne Capital were not part of the group of seized planes.<br/> “We’re 100 per cent caught up," he added, referring to payments on leases across its 19-plane operating fleet. (The tally does not include the four seized planes.)<br/>