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So I guess based on this , every new entry/vacation package agency etc should be required to post the same before operation?

Passenger rights advocate files injunction against NewLeaf Travel Co four days before launch

CNW Group/NewLeaf TravelDiscount airline NewLeaf is scheduled to begin offering flights to 12 Canadian cities on July 25.

TORONTO — Four days before NewLeaf Travel Co. Inc. is set to launch its first flights, a passenger-rights advocate is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to shut down the discount tour operator unless it can post a $3.74-million performance bond.

The urgent motion, filed Thursday by air passenger rights activist Gabor Lukacs, cites concerns about NewLeaf’s financial position, calling it a “shell company without significant assets.”

“NewLeaf is a fledgling, financially unstable company that is unlikely to be able to deliver the services that it has sold or pay compensation to passengers whom it may strand as a result of non-performance,” according to the notice of motion.

To protect passengers who may find themselves unable to get home if NewLeaf folds, Lukacs is asking the court to require the company to post a “performance bond and/or security and/or guarantee in the amount of $3,744,000 for the claims of stranded passengers.”

According to the motion, the amount would be enough to get one week’s worth of stranded passengers home.

In an emailed statement Thursday, NewLeaf CEO Jim Young called the motion “baseless” and “simply not merited.”

“Our primary concern is to provide a service for millions of Canadian travellers that is affordable, accessible and safe. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Lukacs seems intent on taking this option away from Canadians,” Young said.

“The response has been overwhelming and ticket sales have exceeded projections. We are well positioned financially to fly for the long, long term.”

At issue is the fact that NewLeaf is not technically an airline, but rather a reseller of airline seats. It has partnered with Flair Airlines, a B.C.-based charter service, to provide flights to 11 Canadian destinations, the first of which are scheduled to take off on Monday.

The purpose of the motion is to ensure that NewLeaf puts its money where its mouth is

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruled in March that NewLeaf is not required to hold an air licence, which means that, unlike new airlines, it’s not obligated to demonstrate that it has enough money in the bank to operate for 90 days. Lukacs is also challenging the CTA’s licensing decision before the Federal Court of Appeal.

“The purpose of the motion is not to shut down NewLeaf, but to ensure that it is NewLeaf and its investors that bear the financial risk rather than the travelling public,” the motion says. “In other words, the purpose of the motion is to ensure that NewLeaf puts its money where its mouth is.”

Lukacs’s main concern is that passengers won’t have any recourse if NewLeaf goes under and they’re forced to buy expensive, last-minute tickets on Air Canada or WestJet Airlines Ltd. to get home.

“Passengers could seek refunds from credit card companies or from their insurance for any travel services they have paid for and not received,” CTA spokeswoman Martine Maltais said in an email.

Concerns about NewLeaf’s financial situation have come from several quarters. The Financial Post has spoken to three consultants who say the company hasn’t paid them for their work. One of those, Hessie Jones, of marketing consultancy ArCompany, is suing the company and its CEO Jim Young for more than $76,000 in unpaid invoices plus $20,000 in damages.

NewLeaf originally planned to launch in February, but halted ticket sales on Jan. 18. It blamed the fact that the CTA was reviewing whether the company should be required to hold an air licence, but emails obtained by Lukacs and included in the motion indicate that it actually suspended sales because of a lack of funding.

One email from Young, sent Jan. 24, said managers at Flair Airlines “lost their nerve and exerted enough pressure to force the suspension.” That same email says an investor who was going to contribute $250,000 “walked away from the table,” while another $750,000 investment “was put on hold.”

Another email from December shows that Young believed $2 million in funding would be enough to launch “with a cushion.” By comparison, the CTA has told Canada Jetlines Inc., an aspiring ultra-low-cost airline, that it will need $27 million in order to receive an air license based on the 90-day funding requirement.

NewLeaf spokeswoman Lisa Saunders, citing chief commercial officer Dean Dacko, said this week that the company doesn’t disclose financials but has “raised sufficient capital to more than guarantee a successful launch.”

The company said in June that it has secured a “significant investment” from a group of Manitoba First Nations through a business consortium called South Beach Capital Partners, but will not release financial details.

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First flight airborne but a tad late:

     

Flair Airlines 2
FLE2 · "FLAIR" (all flights) flairair.ca
 
Kelowna Int'l (CYLW)
 
Winnipeg Int'l (CYWG)
 
09:12AM PDT
01:19PM CDT
Scheduled: 08:10AM PDT
Scheduled: 12:20PM CDT
1 hr 2 min
1 hr 4 min
 
Duration: 2 hours 7 minutes
Monday, 25 July 2016
Status On The Way! (828 km down; 756 km to go) (track log & graph)
Aircraft Boeing 737-400 (twin-jet) (B734 – photos)
Speed 470 kts (planned: 433 kts) (graph)
Altitude 35,000 feet (planned: 35,000 feet) (graph)
Distance Direct: 1,581 km    Planned: 1,615 km
Route 5000N/11400W MEDAK 5000N/10600W WHIST YBR BRAND6
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First flight airborne but a tad late

The media was hyping FLE1, YHM-YWG, as the first flight.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/newleaf-airline-winnipeg-hamilton-1.3693809

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FLE1/history/20160725/1410Z/CYHM/CYWG

In any event, lowering the bar for pilots in Canada yet again. If it lasts ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, ModerateChop said:

 

The media was hyping FLE1, YHM-YWG, as the first flight.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/newleaf-airline-winnipeg-hamilton-1.3693809

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FLE1/history/20160725/1410Z/CYHM/CYWG

In any event, lowering the bar for pilots in Canada yet again. If it lasts ?

Are the Flair pilots really paid that badly?  

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NewLeaf launches defamation suit over social media posts

Winnipeg Free Press

Posted: 07/28/2016 6:47 PM

Social media posts have hurt business for a Winnipeg-based low-cost air travel service, the company says in a defamation lawsuit against one of its detractors.

NewLeaf Travel is suing airline-passenger advocate and former U of M assistant professor Gabor Lukacs over Twitter and Facebook posts it argues were designed to harm the company’s reputation and discourage potential customers.

The lawsuit, filed in court earlier this month, takes issue with several tweets posted on Lukacs’ Air Passenger Rights Twitter account in late June, most using the hashtag #Dont#GoNewLeaf – a take-down of the company’s promotional slogan.

The tweets singled out in the lawsuit, which haven’t been deleted from the Twitter account, say NewLeaf has unpaid bills and is operating illegally without a licence – statements NewLeaf alleges are false and malicious.

"NewLeaf does not pay its bills. Do not risk your money. #Winnipeg #Dont#GoNewLeaf," reads one of the tweets.

The company is seeking damages and a permanent injunction to stop Lukacs from using social media to further what it calls "an unrelenting, aggressive and malicious attack targeted at NewLeaf and at NewLeaf’s potential and existing customers."

NewLeaf, a service that sells airline tickets through a partnership with Kelowna, B.C.-based Flair Air, began offering its first flights out of Winnipeg earlier this week after a delayed launch due to licensing confusion. The company began selling tickets to customers in January, but decided to refund those tickets out of an "abundance of caution" while awaiting a ruling from the Canadian Transportation Agency on whether the company, as a reseller of air travel and not an air carrier, would need a licence under the CTA, the statement of claim states. The CTA determined NewLeaf didn’t need a licence.

But the company alleges Lukacs has "persistently and relentlessly pursued his intention of halting NewLeaf’s operations, which has caused, and will continue to cause damage to NewLeaf’s credit, goodwill and reputation, as well as financial loss," the suit says, arguing that because Lukacs "has held himself out as an air passenger rights advocate," he has a duty not to make misleading public statements about NewLeaf.

Contacted by the Free Press Thursday, Lukacs said he had no knowledge of the lawsuit against him and had yet to be served. He declined to comment on the allegations. The defamation suit against him was filed in court July 15. On July 21, Lukacs filed an injunction against NewLeaf to the Federal Court of Appeal alleging the company was financially unstable. The motion asked the court to shut down NewLeaf unless the company could post a $3.74 million performance bond "for the claims of stranded passengers," in the event NewLeaf folds, The Financial Post reported.

The lawsuit has not been proven and no statement of defence has been filed.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Appears that there is a demand for their product. Anyone have a personal experience?

NewLeaf Travel to offer more frequent flights with fall schedule

 
‎Yesterday, ‎August ‎24, ‎2016, ‏‎2:43:53 PM | Kristine Owram

NewLeaf Travel Co. Inc. says it will increase service to five Canadian cities in October, boosting its total number of weekly flights to 75 from 60.

The travel company launched flights to 11 Canadian cities in July through a partnership with charter service Flair Airlines.

Its fall schedule, released Wednesday, won’t add any new destinations but will increase frequency to Abbotsford, B.C., Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Moncton, N.B., beginning Oct. 3.

“The demand for ultra-low-cost carrier travel in Canada is evident,” NewLeaf CEO Jim Young said in a statement. “NewLeaf Travel Company and Flair Airlines (are) growing rapidly as the demand continues to rise.”

The company also said it plans to hire staff and crew members, although it didn’t specify how many.

The fall schedule is only effective until Oct. 31. NewLeaf said it will release its holiday schedule after that.

NewLeaf is the subject of an ongoing court case initiated by air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs, who argues the company should not be able to operate without an air license. NewLeaf has fired back with a defamation lawsuit.

http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/newleaf-travel-to-offer-more-frequent-flights-with-fall-schedule

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Myself and 2 children flew with them YHM-YLW return 08 Aug. They definitely exceeded my expectations, a few hiccups but still arrived on time. Had 95 paxs YHM-YWG, 105 paxs YWG-YLW. Will definitely use them again especially if their price remains the same.

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13 minutes ago, nsbs said:

Myself and 2 children flew with them YHM-YLW return 08 Aug. They definitely exceeded my expectations, a few hiccups but still arrived on time. Had 95 paxs YHM-YWG, 105 paxs YWG-YLW. Will definitely use them again especially if their price remains the same.

Well, it certainly true that if everything runs smoothly you can probably save a few bucks but, essentially, buying a ticket on an airline with a handful of aircraft that only plans service a few days a week to each destination is a gamble - if the weather is good and there are no mechanical issues you win but if there's a big storm or the airplane breaks down you lose.  The peace-of-mind I would get from buying my travel on AC or WS, knowing that they have the ability to recover from these sorts of things faster, is worth spending the extra dollars.  Maybe it's not worth it to others but I think the public tends to underestimate the likelihood of a disruption and instead focuses on the 20 bucks they will save - until, of course, it happens to them.

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27 minutes ago, seeker said:

Well, it certainly true that if everything runs smoothly you can probably save a few bucks but, essentially, buying a ticket on an airline with a handful of aircraft that only plans service a few days a week to each destination is a gamble - if the weather is good and there are no mechanical issues you win but if there's a big storm or the airplane breaks down you lose.  The peace-of-mind I would get from buying my travel on AC or WS, knowing that they have the ability to recover from these sorts of things faster, is worth spending the extra dollars.  Maybe it's not worth it to others but I think the public tends to underestimate the likelihood of a disruption and instead focuses on the 20 bucks they will save - until, of course, it happens to them.

Aren't you describing a certain service between Canada and the UK?  :lol:

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12 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

Aren't you describing a certain service between Canada and the UK?  :lol:

No, I wasn't (although I knew someone would see the similarity.)

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  • 3 weeks later...
20 hours ago, rudder said:

Train wreck in progress.....

Didn't WestJet in the early days do the same when it found certain routes didn't generate the revenue needed to support them?

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