A year into leading Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines on an interim basis, Maciej Wilk has been confirmed as the airline’s permanent chief executive.
Wilk previously worked as Flair’s chief operating officer. He took the company’s top position after former CEO Stephen Jones retired last summer.
At the time, Edmonton-based Flair said it was undergoing a recruitment process to find a full-time CEO, while Wilk would act in the role temporarily.
“We had looked,” says Jim Young, chair of Flair’s board. ”It turned out our best candidate was already doing the job.”
“[Wilk] has spent the past year steering through weather disruptions, organisational shifts and economic headwinds, all while sharpening our focus on reliability, affordability and performance,” Young says.
As interim CEO, Wilk oversaw several key initiatives, including the carrier’s “on-time guarantee” programme, which provides a voucher for future flights to passengers experiencing a delay exceeding 1h, as well as implementation of the company’s broader customer-facing platform.
Flair adds that Wilk also contributed insights to the Canadian federal government’s Airline Market Study, which provides a snapshot of competition in country’s airline sector.
The discounter launched scheduled passenger flights in 2017 and has since weathered the historically unforgiving Canadian airline environment – particularly for those operating under the low-cost model.
Flair has outlasted recent start-ups such as Lynx Air and Canada Jetlines, both of which ceased operating last year. It recently boasted of achieving Canada’s best-on time performance in June, narrowly edging out the likes of Air Canada, Porter Airlines and WestJet.
