ULCC Canada Jetlines: casting a wide net to get airborne

Canada Jetlines was one of the first Canadian companies to declare its intentions to usher the ULCC model into the country's aviation market and its brief, but colourful, history has included numerous targeted launch dates that have come and gone. Most recently, the company has delayed its Dec-2019 launch date due to the investors' decision to terminate their commitments to Jetlines.

There is no certainty that Jetlines will ever launch operations in the Canadian market, but the company is not going down quietly, having accused WestJet's Swoop of pricing below its avoidable costs and launching legal action against industry veteran David Neeleman, claiming he engaged in a predatory scheme to prohibit Jetlines from securing necessary financing - hence the headline picture taken from the Jetlines.com website

There have always been questions regarding Canada's ability to support more than two ultra low cost airlines, and Swoop and Flair have been first to market.

It is no stretch to conclude that Jetlines faces an uphill climb, even if it succeeds in waging its legal battle against Mr Neeleman.