Spirit Airlines CEO, Ted Christie, has confirmed that the airline is keen to start service into Canada in future. Speaking at the Airports Council International-North America JumpStart conference this week, Christie is reported by Flight Global as saying,

“Canada is clearly on the list… It’s a nut we’ve been looking to crack here for a while.”

https://simpleflying.com/spirit-airlines-canada/

Besides Frontier to YYC, looks like this will be one of the first ULCC services to Canada.

To BWI, MCO, FLL, MSY, & LAS only most likely.

There's little reason to start with anything but the most high-volume Canada-U.S. destinations and fight it out with AC and WestJet on costs: Eastern Canada to FLL/MCO, Western Canada to LAS/LAX.

santi319 wrote:

Spirit Airlines CEO, Ted Christie, has confirmed that the airline is keen to start service into Canada in future. Speaking at the Airports Council International-North America JumpStart conference this week, Christie is reported by Flight Global as saying,

“Canada is clearly on the list… It’s a nut we’ve been looking to crack here for a while.”

https://simpleflying.com/spirit-airlines-canada/

Besides Frontier to YYC, looks like this will be one of the first ULCC services to Canada.

Okay then. I guess they have the least to lose...

As someone who heard the full response live, I assure you it didn't sound like Canada was on the near term radar....

I can see NK entering YXU, YOW and YQB to start with. YYZ is just too crowded.

I suspect more than a few Canadians are quite familiar with NK, what with services like IAG and PBG that probably cater to very few American travelers. NK is probably far less known in Western Canada, though...

Anything that I think they could launch would be loss leaders.

Most likely just one of the places they're interested in, but so far they've come no further than thinking about it. Before they actually start flying there, a lot needs to happen.

However as Canada is "on the list" and a list mostly contains of more than one item, makes me wonder what else is on that list. Are they perhaps looking at what Southwest is doing to Hawaii and give that a try? Or will they launch TATL after JetBlue?

flymco753 wrote:

To BWI, MCO, FLL, MSY, & LAS only most likely.

I'd also say TPA and PHX might have a shot as well.

tphuang wrote:

Anything that I think they could launch would be loss leaders.

That's the biggest problem with LCCs in Canada, their main edge, that is low fares, is lost.

For example, look at YYZ-TPA in the Autumn. The lowest Air Canada one way fare is $194. $94 of that are airport fees and taxes. Air Canada only gets about $100. Let's say Spirit comes in with a money losing loss leader fare of $50 ... add on the $94 and at $144, is that enough to entice a traveller to try something new?

It's not like the United States where half fare really is half fare.

Also, don't forget, out of that $50 that Spirit would actually get, they have to pay the highest landing fees on the earth as well as among the highest handling costs. I would say that flying into outlier airports like YHM would be a viable solution, but historically, that has not been too successful for foreign carriers.

I live near YHM and recently I have to convince friends to fly on Norwegian out of YHM to DUB. Not only was it half the price of Air Canada, but much much more convenient than the QEW to YYZ. They kept talking about the "unknown". Had it been AC or WS out of YHM, they would have jumped at it, but to the average traveller ... who is (gasp) Norwegian? (For the record, they eventually did go Norwegian and had a great trip.)

clrd4t8koff wrote:

flymco753 wrote:

To BWI, MCO, FLL, MSY, & LAS only most likely.

I'd also say TPA and PHX might have a shot as well.

Not so much PHX, but yeah add TPA to the mix. Seems like these stations are where NK's main focus is right now, shifting away from DTW & ORD.

flymco753 wrote:

clrd4t8koff wrote:

flymco753 wrote:

To BWI, MCO, FLL, MSY, & LAS only most likely.

I'd also say TPA and PHX might have a shot as well.

Not so much PHX, but yeah add TPA to the mix. Seems like these stations are where NK's main focus is right now, shifting away from DTW & ORD.

Absolutely, historically NK could never make PHX work..

longhauler wrote:

tphuang wrote:

Anything that I think they could launch would be loss leaders.

That's the biggest problem with LCCs in Canada, their main edge, that is low fares, is lost.

For example, look at YYZ-TPA in the Autumn. The lowest Air Canada one way fare is $194. $94 of that are airport fees and taxes. Air Canada only gets about $100. Let's say Spirit comes in with a money losing loss leader fare of $50 ... add on the $94 and at $144, is that enough to entice a traveller to try something new?

It's not like the United States where half fare really is half fare.

Also, don't forget, out of that $50 that Spirit would actually get, they have to pay the highest landing fees on the earth as well as among the highest handling costs. I would say that flying into outlier airports like YHM would be a viable solution, but historically, that has not been too successful for foreign carriers.

I live near YHM and recently I have to convince friends to fly on Norwegian out of YHM to DUB. Not only was it half the price of Air Canada, but much much more convenient than the QEW to YYZ. They kept talking about the "unknown". Had it been AC or WS out of YHM, they would have jumped at it, but to the average traveller ... who is (gasp) Norwegian? (For the record, they eventually did go Norwegian and had a great trip.)

All of this is true, but YYZ-Florida still works at volume. That’s why you see MCO/TPA/FLL filled with Rouge 767s in winter. A seasonal NK 321 may have enough of an edge to break into the market, though I am skeptical.

axiom wrote:

longhauler wrote:

tphuang wrote:

Anything that I think they could launch would be loss leaders.

That's the biggest problem with LCCs in Canada, their main edge, that is low fares, is lost.

For example, look at YYZ-TPA in the Autumn. The lowest Air Canada one way fare is $194. $94 of that are airport fees and taxes. Air Canada only gets about $100. Let's say Spirit comes in with a money losing loss leader fare of $50 ... add on the $94 and at $144, is that enough to entice a traveller to try something new?

It's not like the United States where half fare really is half fare.

Also, don't forget, out of that $50 that Spirit would actually get, they have to pay the highest landing fees on the earth as well as among the highest handling costs. I would say that flying into outlier airports like YHM would be a viable solution, but historically, that has not been too successful for foreign carriers.

I live near YHM and recently I have to convince friends to fly on Norwegian out of YHM to DUB. Not only was it half the price of Air Canada, but much much more convenient than the QEW to YYZ. They kept talking about the "unknown". Had it been AC or WS out of YHM, they would have jumped at it, but to the average traveller ... who is (gasp) Norwegian? (For the record, they eventually did go Norwegian and had a great trip.)

All of this is true, but YYZ-Florida still works at volume. That’s why you see MCO/TPA/FLL filled with Rouge 767s in winter. A seasonal NK 321 may have enough of an edge to break into the market, though I am skeptical.

I think NK would have to sell tickets at like $10 to 20 in that scenario to get people to board their flights and then hope to make some back on the ancillaries. Remember, these sun routes are overwhelmingly dominated by Canadian POS. NK wouldn't have any brand recognition or be involved in any of the vacation packages that fill a lot of these seats.

NK certainly has been doing well enough recently that they are willing to try out some of these tougher to crack markets. But frankly, there are much easier markets for them to go after.

longhauler wrote:

tphuang wrote:

Anything that I think they could launch would be loss leaders.

That's the biggest problem with LCCs in Canada, their main edge, that is low fares, is lost.

For example, look at YYZ-TPA in the Autumn. The lowest Air Canada one way fare is $194. $94 of that are airport fees and taxes. Air Canada only gets about $100. Let's say Spirit comes in with a money losing loss leader fare of $50 ... add on the $94 and at $144, is that enough to entice a traveller to try something new?

It's not like the United States where half fare really is half fare.

Also, don't forget, out of that $50 that Spirit would actually get, they have to pay the highest landing fees on the earth as well as among the highest handling costs. I would say that flying into outlier airports like YHM would be a viable solution, but historically, that has not been too successful for foreign carriers.

I live near YHM and recently I have to convince friends to fly on Norwegian out of YHM to DUB. Not only was it half the price of Air Canada, but much much more convenient than the QEW to YYZ. They kept talking about the "unknown". Had it been AC or WS out of YHM, they would have jumped at it, but to the average traveller ... who is (gasp) Norwegian? (For the record, they eventually did go Norwegian and had a great trip.)

I'm pretty sure that's why B6 couldn't make Canada work, either.

On the chance that it ever gets off the ground, how well could NK do against CJL?

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

Looks like you get the prize for the most condescending, elitist post the day. Congrats!

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

Not all of us can afford business class on a regular basis. We are the majority of fliers - we give Ryanair, Easyjet, etc. our money and make them consistently profitable.

continental004 wrote:

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

Not all of us can afford business class on a regular basis. We are the majority of fliers - we give Ryanair, Easyjet, etc. our money and make them consistently profitable.

Do you find Southwest's and JetBlue's fares to be unreasonable? Or even the mainline carriers with advanced purchase? You can find a good price on most any airline. But even Frontier and Allegiant don't seem to have the problems that Spirit does despite having a similar fare and fee structure. Just something about Spirit it seems.

Canada jetlines is starting up
In December. They will Be ULCC in
Canada

Only God knows by this point if CJL will start flying, but if they succeed in the apparently incredible challenge of being an airline with flying planes, then perhaps they can give NK a challenge

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

Spoken like someone who has never flown them. Not to mention, why do rich people get to be the only ones who fly?

jetblueguy22 wrote:

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

Spoken like someone who has never flown them. Not to mention, why do rich people get to be the only ones who fly?

A quick search reveals that a Delta flight from FLL-YYZ a month from now is $249. You're saying only rich people can afford that?

TTailedTiger wrote:

jetblueguy22 wrote:

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

Spoken like someone who has never flown them. Not to mention, why do rich people get to be the only ones who fly?

A quick search reveals that a Delta flight from FLL-YYZ a month from now is $249. You're saying only rich people can afford that?

It's not about being affordable, it's about being the cheapest. There are people who will go out of their way to save whatever they can on airfares and every penny counts.

By the way I've looked up that Delta flight a month from now which you're referring to. A month from now exactly would be July 6th and on that date there are several flights from Fort Lauderdale to Toronto. One of them has a Delta flight number on it, but in fact it's operated by WestJet. Booked through Delta this flight would cost $ 272, however if you book it through WestJet the same flight costs $ 230. But if you're not too picky, there's also Air Transat for $ 201 and to top it off Air Canada for $ 159 (operated by Air Canada Rouge).

Sure, if it needed to be I could afford that $ 272 that Delta charges, but I would be crazy to do so. I can save a whole lot of money by flying Air Canada. So being affordable isn't enough, you have to be the cheapest. That's where Spirit comes in.

Like most LCCs, Spirit doesn't make a profit on the ticket itself. In fact, some tickets are even sold at a loss. The average ticket price covers the cost of the flight, but not everybody pays average. Some pay more, some pay less. Their profit is in ancillary revenue. Of course the people that are looking for the cheapest deal will book far in advance to take those seats that are sold below the average ticket price. The people that need to fly on short term pay far more, they pay to cover the costs of the passengers that booked early.

Merge with F9 and attack Canada hard! I’d love to see a giant ULCC. (As long as F9 survives from a brand perspective).

TTailedTiger wrote:

jetblueguy22 wrote:

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

Spoken like someone who has never flown them. Not to mention, why do rich people get to be the only ones who fly?

A quick search reveals that a Delta flight from FLL-YYZ a month from now is $249. You're saying only rich people can afford that?

I believe that's a WestJet flight with a DL code on it.

TTailedTiger wrote:

My condolences to our Canadian friends. They may as well have law enforcement nearby when the Spirit flight arrives. There is sure to have been an onboard altercation. Trash fares attract the same type of people as evidenced on Instagram on a near daily basis.

I used to not believe this until a few days ago whilst walking past the Spirit check in queue on my way to the UA desk at LAX.

axiom wrote:

longhauler wrote:

tphuang wrote:

Anything that I think they could launch would be loss leaders.

All of this is true, but YYZ-Florida still works at volume. That’s why you see MCO/TPA/FLL filled with Rouge 767s in winter. A seasonal NK 321 may have enough of an edge to break into the market, though I am skeptical.

Slightly off topic but I live and work near FLL and I am still seeing Rouge 767s at FLL even though it is almost the second week of June.