Jetcor, successor to CWA, will begin flying to the islands on Monday, and plans to honour CWA's prepaid tickets.
Jetcor will fly in a 19 passenger Jetstream turbo prop aircraft (with washroom) four times a week between Masset airport and Vancouver's south terminal.
CEO Haig Davies says Jetcor will honour CWA's tickets as a good will gesture, but asks people to pay the taxes and fly on a standby basis. If people want to pre-book their seat, they can still use a CWA ticket, but Jetcor will charge $25, as well as the taxes, to reissue a new ticket.
Jetcor is the company CWA leased its plane from. After a few months, CWA stopped paying their bills and Jetcor was stuck. The company checked out CWA's books, and discovered the airline was worthless, but thought it had potential. Jetcor was considering making an offer for the company when Transport Canada pulled CWA's license and Jetcor backed out because without a license the company had no potential. Since then, the situation has improved, and Jetcor decided to go ahead with plans to fly routes to Masset and Williams Lake.
Jetcor is a plane leasing company that provides planes and pilots for companies that need them. Mr. Davies ran his own small airline in Europe and really enjoyed the experience. Since coming to Canada, he's wanted to start up another airline. The company currently operates out of Calgary, but he plans to relocate to Vancouver to be closer to this new venture.
Jetcor has a great track record running planes, but needs to develop strength in marketing, says Mr. Davies. He believes that if Jetcor provides a good service then the business will come.