Flair Airlines is looking for partners to inject fresh capital into the discount carrier in order to 含羞草研究社渞estructure含羞草研究社� its finances and build out its fleet.

Eric Tanner, vice-president of revenue management and network planning, said the company is hoping for partners to buy into the business as a way to deal with pandemic-era debt and allow the company to acquire jets beyond the 20 planes it now flies.

含羞草研究社淲hat we含羞草研究社檙e really looking at is restarting our growth ambitions and finding strategic equity partners who are going to help us get onto that level,含羞草研究社� Tanner said in an interview.

含羞草研究社淭here含羞草研究社檚 work underway, amongst investors, to restructure the balance sheet.含羞草研究社�

He was quick to add that the investor hunt is not a 含羞草研究社減ressing need含羞草研究社� and the business itself is not undergoing restructuring, having turned a profit in July and August.

含羞草研究社淭he business is in frankly the best shape that it含羞草研究社檚 been in, from a performance perspective,含羞草研究社� he said.

Tanner attributed the boost in part to a thinning out of competition over the past year.

Budget carrier Lynx Air collapsed in February and filed for creditor protection, while WestJet含羞草研究社檚 ultra-low-cost subsidiary Swoop shut down in October last year.

Flair has confronted its fair share of financial turbulence since its inaugural flight took off in 2017.

As of November, it owed the federal government $67.2 million in unpaid taxes related to import duties on the 20 Boeing jets that make up its fleet.

Then-CEO Stephen Jones told The Canadian Press in January he was suspending expansion plans as Flair contended with plane delivery delays and significant debts.

Last year, Flair saw four of its planes repossessed after an aircraft leasing manager claimed the company regularly missed rent payments that amounted to millions of dollars. Three of those Boeing 737s now fly for Ethiopian Airlines, while a fourth is in the hands of Johannesburg-based FlySafair.

含羞草研究社淚n terms of like the balance sheet, there含羞草研究社檚 some legacy stuff from the past four years where Flair grew very rapidly and did not receive any government support during COVID,含羞草研究社� Tanner said.

含羞草研究社淭hat frankly just needs to get cleaned up so that we can turn the page.含羞草研究社�

The airline含羞草研究社檚 preference would be for Canadian financial partners, he said. Federal law caps ownership of a Canadian airline by foreign entities at 49 per cent.