Henrik C.

I've flown with Flair Airline several times between Winnipeg and Toronto. The flights are usually delayed, which is inconvenient but not directly a safety concern. What concerns me (I'm a commercially rated pilot and an aircraft electronics technician and later engineer with 30 years of aviation experience), is that the airline appears to be very unorganized and rely on poorly trained support personnel. My flight from Toronto to Winnipeg yesterday was unusually bad: I didn't mind the 1 hour delay due to a late arriving aircraft. That's fine and expected with FA. But then we're delayed an extra 30 minutes because the people servicing the aircraft with water had failed to show up. Sure, it wasn't really FA's fault but it is very typical of this airline. Why has it never happened to me before during 50 years of flying? Next, we waited another 30 minutes for a grooming crew to clean up the plane after some of the previous passengers left a mess in the cabin. Absolutely NOT FA's fault. Then we finally boarded the plane. The gate agent was clearly new on the job, which is not really a complaint from me but just another indication that FA rely on poorly trained staff.
The flight itself was fine. I have no complaints about the actual execution of the flights.
But maybe the most disturbing part of the entire experience was when I watched a guy trying to refuel the aircraft in Winnipeg. It was obvious that he was poorly trained and unsure about this important task. He managed to connect the ground wire and the hose to the wing, but then he couldn't figure out how to connect the communication / control cable. He just kept pacing back and forth with the connector in his hand hoping that someone would come and help him. Of all the issues I witnessed and experienced on the flight, this was the most upsetting as refueling an aircraft is directly related to its safe operation. Ground personnel responsible for refueling aircraft should be properly trained for the task. Safety can only be achieved when the people involved are properly trained and confident about their respective tasks. Airline travel is safe in general but I will claim that the safety margin is much smaller for Flair Airlines compared to other airlines. I will probably stop flying with FA from now on.
Note: Asked about the performance of ground support personnel at a specific airport the airline is likely to claim that they are not responsible for the quality of service as it is provided by the airport. However, the fact is that the airline is indirectly responsible for the service they receive. It is fair to state that airlines like Air Canada and Delta receive higher quality service and (I assume) would not accept refueling services from someone who is not familiar with the process. These airlines are serviced by dedicated ground personnel who are better paid, more experienced and ultimately able to maintain a higher level of safety. Flair Airlines is a low-cost airline that relies on the lowest-cost services, which end up impacting safety.

I'm going through the material in the NauticEd RYA Day Skipper course for a second time and all the grammatical errors appear to have vannished! Great job editing the content. Five stars!