Canadian leisure airline Canada Jetlines has grounded all its flights and temporarily ceased operations as it looks for creditor protection amid a struggle to find funding needed to stay in operation.
The airline’s action comes only a few days after it saw the resignation of four members of its senior leadership team, including former CEO Brigitte Goersch who had only been in the role since 1 July, and warned it would need to raise additional capital to continue services.
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Spokeswoman Erica Dymond said the company had “pursued all available financing alternatives including strategic transactions and equity and debt financings.”
She said: “Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the company has been unable to obtain the financing required to continue operations at this time.”
The embattled company had previously paused all of its domestic services in January 2023 to focus on international routes, serving the US, Caribbean and Mexico, and plane leasing services as it struggled to see profitability.
Canada Jetlines only operated its first flight in 2022 after seven years of preparations, and a delayed launch in 2019, including lobbying the Ottawan government to change a law on foreign ownership in Canadian airlines.
Despite its years of fundraising, the company has been in an almost constant battle to stay afloat and in June secured a $2m loan agreement, announcing that it would use the net proceeds of the loan to pay the amount owed to an investment firm on a separate $2m loan granted in May 2024.
Jetlines joins a growing list of Candian airlines to halt operations in recent year, following Lynx Air’s closure due to “financial pressures” in February 2024, and the reintegration of Swoop into its parent company WestJet in October 2023.
