Canada's leading low-cost airline Flair Airlines has been tentatively one year, with Maciej Wilk confirmed as the airline's permanent chief executive.
Wilk previously worked as Flair's Chief Operating Officer. After former CEO Stephen Jones retired last summer, he took the top position in the company.
At the time, Edmonton-based Flair said he was going through a recruitment process to find a full-time CEO, but Wilk said he would temporarily take on the role.
“We saw it,” says Jim Young, chairman of Flair's board. “It turns out that our best candidate was already at work.”
“[Wilk]has piloted weather disruptions, organizational changes and economic headwinds over the past year, but they're all focused on reliability, affordability and performance,” Young says.
As interim CEO, Wilk oversaw several key initiatives, including a carrier's “on-time guarantee” program that provides vouchers for future flights to passengers experiencing delays of more than an hour.
Flair adds that Wilk also contributed insight into Canadian federal government airline market research.
Disc Counter launched its scheduled passenger flights in 2017 and has since overcome the historically relentless Canadian airline environment, particularly for those operating under the low-cost model.
Flair has lasted longer than recent startups like Lynx Air and Canada Jetlines. Recently, he boasted of achieving Canada's Best Era performance in June, stripping off Air Canada, Porter Airlines, WestJet and more in a narrow position.
