Flair CEO addresses unpaid taxes story, property seizure threat

The CEO of Flair Airlines is criticizing media coverage of the airline’s tax debts as “sensationalist” and claiming that his company’s bills have had no impact on operations. This month, it was revealed that Flair owes $67.2m in unpaid taxes and that the Canada Revenue Agency obtained an order for the seizure and sale of the carrier's property. In a Wednesday interview, Flair CEO Stephen Jones dismissed the prospect of the CRA confiscating Flair aircraft, and repeatedly criticized the news media’s framing of the story. “I don't think it does our customers and consumers in Canada any favours for you guys to be putting the more sensationalist angle on this,” Jones told BNN Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman. “The real story is that Flair is here delivering affordable airfares to Canadians and commentators will say what commentators will say, but we're the ones in the front line bringing affordable travel to Canadians.” Jones would not disclose how much Flair pays monthly to service its debt or how much it has paid off thus far. But he reiterated that the airline is not going anywhere. “We've got a plan in place,” he said. “We're fully current with it and nobody's going to be seizing and selling the assets of Flair.” Jones also pledged that flights will not be impacted by the airline’s tax debts.<br/>