Lynx Air to Cease Flight Operations

Calgary-based ultra-low-cost carrier Lynx Air has filed for and received creditor protection from the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, and will cease flight operations effective Monday, February 26, 2024 at 12:01am Mountain Time.

Customers are being referred to an FAQ section on the Lynx Air website for more information at this time.

Lynx Air to Cease Flight Operations

As of Monday, February 26 at 12:01am Mountain Time, Lynx Air will cease flight operations. 

The information was announced via a press release on February 22 at 6pm Mountain Time, after an internal memo was sent to Lynx Air employees earlier that day. Lynx Air’s website was also updated around that time with a banner showing the airline’s imminent end to operations. 

In the press release, Lynx Air cites facing a number of “significant headwinds” in the last year, including “rising operating costs, high fuel prices, exchange rates, increasing airport charges and a difficult economic and regulatory environment.”

In the FAQ section on its website, the carrier also cites “compounding financial pressures associated with inflation, fuel costs, exchange rates, cost of capital, regulatory costs and competitive tension in the Canadian market” as reasons for its collapse.

Over the next few days, Lynx Air expects to operate most flights on its schedule, but advises passengers to keep an eye on flights on the Lynx Air website.

If you have a flight scheduled on or after February 26, 2024, you will receive a cancellation notification, and your flight will not operate. You may be able to get a future flight changed to a flight prior to Lynx ceasing operations by contacting Lynx Air.

Lynx Air is instructing passengers to contact their credit card company for the processing of refunds, and advises that its contact centre staff will not be able to assist with refunds.

Air Canada and WestJet are offering discounted fares in an effort to assist stranded Lynx Air passengers. More information can be found on the Air Canada and WestJet websites.

Any Lynx Air travel or flight vouchers will no longer have value as of February 26, 2024.

The Latest Carrier to Exit Canadian Airspace

It took less than two years from Lynx Air’s inaugural flight to its last. Lynx Air’s first flight was from Calgary to Vancouver on April 8, 2022, and its last will be on February 25, 2024.

Over the past two years, it has expanded its network to include destinations across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. As it stands, it has a fleet of nine Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Within the span of a year, three airlines will have disappeared from Canadian airspace: Lynx Air will soon no longer be in operation, while former ultra-low-cost carrier Swoop has been integrated into WestJet’s mainline operations, and Sunwing will have been integrated into WestJet’s mainline operations by October 2024.

Earlier this month, there were reports that Flair Airlines and Lynx Air were in advanced discussions to merge; however, with Lynx Air’s upcoming folding as an airline, it appears that those discussions weren’t fruitful enough to proceed.

As of next week, Flair Airlines will, for all intents and purposes, become the sole ultra-low-cost carrier remaining in Canada. Canada Jetlines currently only operates flights to destinations in the US and the Caribbean, but will launch a lone domestic route from Toronto to Halifax later this year.

Conclusion

As of February 26, 2024, Lynx Air will cease flight operations. At that point, it will become the latest carrier to fall victim to Canada’s challenging market.

Passengers affected by the airline’s folding are being advised to contact credit card companies for refunds, and they’ll have to rebook themselves on alternative flights.

Until then, Lynx Air expects to operate most flights as scheduled, although passengers are encouraged to keep an eye on the schedule.

More to come…