Flair Airlines has gone on the offensive, telling the public that Ottawa is not seizing Flair airplanes or other property and that it’s business as usual.
“We want to address today's media coverage and be clear that the Government is NOT seizing Flair property & this situation does not impact our daily flight operations,” Flair said in a statement on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “We will continue to fly and look forward to serving you now and in the future.”
Reports earlier in the week said Flair owes the Canadian government $67 million in back taxes. Canadian Press said the dispute prompted the Canada Revenue Agency “to obtain an order for the seizure and sale of the carrier's property."
But that doesn’t mean Ottawa is actually taking that step.
Flair Airlines CEO Stephen Jones told CP that the Edmonton-based airline has “a mutually agreed-upon payment plan with CRA to pay these importation duties, and we are current with that plan.”
It’s possible that the CRA could seize Flair property at some stage, presumably if the company fell behind on repayment or ceased paying its tax bill. But it appears that has not happened.
The CRA said it cannot comment on specific cases for confidentiality reasons, Canadian Press reports, but that it looks to make arrangements with a company “based on their ability to pay” before it garnishes revenues or goes even further.
“As a last resort, we may take additional legal collection actions such as seizing property or assets to protect the interests of the Crown,” spokeswoman Kim Thiffault said in an email.
Jones has said the $67 million in taxes owed relates to import duties on the 20 Boeing 737 Max jetliners that make up the airline’s fleet.
Flair says it has been forced to slow its expansion plans due to a shortage of Boeing planes and the ongoing debt issue.
“This will be a more muted year,” Jones said recently, “but we’ll look to get back into growth mode strongly in 2025.”
