Flair Airlines delay compensation: what you're owed and how to claim

Updated October 17, 2026 · Checked against the regulations as current to September 30, 2026 · By LandedLate

Flair Airlines owes $400, $700 or $1,000 per passenger, in cash, for a delay or cancellation within its control. The amount depends on how late you reach your final destination: 3 to 6 hours, 6 to 9 hours, or 9 hours or more. No compensation is owed if the cause was outside Flair's control or required for safety (a safety label can be challenged); you still get a new flight or a refund, and in safety cases meals (and a hotel overnight) if you were told less than 12 hours ahead. You claim through Flair's online help centre, one form per passenger and direction, before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation (section 19(3)), and Flair has 30 days to pay or explain why not. These are the rules in force on October 1, 2026.

Whether your own flight qualifies depends on its details: the reason the airline gave, how late you reached your destination and how much notice you had. Check it free at landedlate.ca/check.

How much Flair owes

Flair, delay or cancellation within its control
You reached your destination	Per passenger
3 to 6 hours late	$400
6 to 9 hours late	$700
9 hours or more	$1,000
Less than 3 hours late	$0

Per passenger, section 19(1) of the regulations; these are the amounts Flair lists. Data as of October 1, 2026.

Bumped from an overbooked flight for a reason within Flair's control? The amounts are $900 if you arrived less than 6 hours late, $1,800 for 6 to 9 hours, $2,400 for 9 hours or more, paid within 48 hours (section 20). For a delay or cancellation within Flair's control (not for safety) that you were told about 14 days or less ahead, if you took a refund because the new flight didn't meet your needs, you're still owed at least $400 (section 19(2)). Every amount in one chart

When Flair has to pay, and when it doesn't

You're owed

The cause was within Flair's control (crew, scheduling, an aircraft change, most avoidable maintenance), you arrived 3+ hours late, and you were told about the delay or cancellation 14 days or less before departure (section 12).

Worth challenging

Flair offers a voucher, cites safety or weather without detail, or doesn't answer within 30 days. Ask for money and the evidence.

Not owed

A genuine cause outside its control: weather that made flying your flight unsafe, an air traffic control instruction, a security threat, or a strike. You still get a new flight, or a refund if Flair can't rebook you within 48 hours. No meals or hotel are required (section 10(3)).

How to claim from Flair

Open Flair's help centre request form at flyflair.zendesk.com and choose “Submit an APPR Compensation Claim”. The $60 voucher has its own, separate category.
Claim after you arrive, before the first anniversary of the delay or cancellation. Enter the confirmation details exactly as they appear on your booking.
File one form per passenger, per direction. A return trip for two people is four forms if both directions were disrupted.
Use the same description on every form. LandedLate writes it once for your flight; paste it into each passenger's form. Flair says a submitted form can't be retrieved, so take a screenshot before you press Submit.
Note the date. Flair has 30 days to pay or explain. Approved payments go to the email address on the claim.

Write my Flair claim

Free. LandedLate takes no share of what Flair pays you.

The $60 voucher is not your compensation

Flair's On-Time Guarantee gave an automatic $60 e-voucher when a flight was delayed more than 60 minutes or cancelled within 72 hours of departure. Flair stopped offering it for bookings made from June 1, 2026. It was a separate promise: compensation under the regulations must be paid in money unless you agree in writing to something worth more than the amount owed that never expires (section 21). If you arrived 3 or more hours late for a reason within Flair's control, claim the $400 to $1,000 as well.

Penalties the regulator has issued to Flair

Issued	What for	Penalty
April 2, 2026	Itinerary documents missing the required plain-language terms, care and compensation information (June to November 2025)	$66,000
November 14, 2025	Passengers on six cancelled flights (May to August 2024) not told about compensation, care and their right to complain, by their preferred method	$20,000
July 31, 2025	48 passengers not offered a seat on another airline's flight (August 2024), and 24 refunds not paid within 30 days (September 2024)	$174,000

Canadian Transportation Agency enforcement notices; links in Sources.

What Flair says when it refuses, and how to answer it

The burden is on Flair: in a complaint, a disruption is presumed to be within the airline's control and not required for safety unless the airline proves otherwise (Canada Transportation Act, section 85.07(2)).

If Flair says	How to answer it
Maintenance, “required for safety”	The agency found that a delay caused by a heater being switched off, which let a lavatory pipe freeze and rupture, was within the airline's control: the maintenance and ground crew could have prevented it. It ordered $400 per passenger (Anslow v. Sunwing, 20-C-A-2023). Ask what failed and when it was found.
A crew shortage	Staffing is generally within the airline's control. In WestJet v. Lareau (2025 FCA 149), the Federal Court of Appeal found no error in the agency requiring WestJet to show it had a reasonable contingency plan before accepting that a crew cancellation was required for safety, and upheld the $1,000 award. More on crew shortages
Weather	The airline has to show the weather made your flight unsafe to operate. The agency rejected a weather defence backed only by undecoded weather reports and a list of other delays at the airport, and ordered $1,000 (Beauchamp v. WestJet, 68-C-A-2023). More on weather delays
A voucher or credit instead of cash	You're entitled to money. A voucher only counts if it's worth more, never expires, and you accept it in writing (section 21).

What else Flair owes you during the disruption

Meals and a hotel, when the cause was within Flair's control (including safety) and you were told less than 12 hours ahead: food and drink after 2 hours, a means of communication, and a hotel plus transport overnight (section 14). Not required for causes outside its control.
A new flight or a refund after a delay of 3 hours or more or a cancellation, with refunds paid within 30 days (sections 17, 18 and 18.2). More on cancelled flights and refunds
Refunds of extras you didn't get, such as paid seat selection (section 18.1).

If Flair hasn't paid or refuses

By day 30: Flair must pay or explain. The regulations give it 30 days from receiving your claim to send the money or say why it isn't owed (section 19(4)). A reply saying your claim is approved or being reviewed doesn't stop that clock.
After day 30, or after a refusal: write back once. Give the date you claimed, and ask for the payment, or for the cause and the evidence behind a refusal. Write the follow-up · Answer a refusal · More on unpaid claims
Then, if you need to, complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency. It's free. Your original claim counts as writing to Flair: you can file 30 days after you sent it, or as soon as it's refused.

Expect a long wait at the agency: it says it may take more than 24 months before an officer reviews a complaint, and about 98,000 complaints were waiting, as reported on September 24, 2026 (The Canadian Press). How long the agency takes. How to file a complaint with the agency

Questions

Is the $60 Flair voucher my compensation?

No. Flair's On-Time Guarantee gave a $60 e-voucher for delays over 60 minutes or cancellations within 72 hours of departure, automatically and for free, and Flair stopped offering it for bookings made from June 1, 2026. It's separate from compensation under the regulations, which must be paid in money unless you accept, in writing, something worth more than the amount owed that never expires (section 21). A $60 voucher can't replace $400.

Do I need a separate claim for each passenger?

Yes. Flair asks for one claim form per passenger, per direction of travel, even for people on the same reservation. If one direction had several flights, one form covers that direction.

How long does Flair take to answer?

Flair says it responds within 30 days, which is also the legal deadline to pay or explain why not (section 19(4)). Approved payments are sent to the email address on the claim, and you can choose to receive the money electronically.

Flair cancelled my flight and couldn't rebook me. What am I owed?

If Flair can't get you on its own or a partner's flight leaving within the required window, a large airline must offer a seat on any airline's flight on a reasonable route, or a refund of the unused ticket if you prefer (sections 17 and 18). Refunds are due within 30 days (section 18.2). In July 2025 the Canadian Transportation Agency issued Flair a $174,000 penalty for failing on both.

Do I get compensation for a 2-hour Flair delay?

No. Compensation starts when you reach your final destination 3 or more hours late. At 2 hours you're owed food, drink and a means of communication if the cause was within Flair's control and you were told less than 12 hours ahead (section 14).

Flair cancelled my flight and I took the new one. Am I still owed compensation?

Yes, if the cancellation was within Flair's control and not required for safety, and you were told 14 days or less before departure. The amount depends on how late the new flight got you to your destination, compared with the arrival time on your original ticket: $400 for 3 to 6 hours, $700 for 6 to 9 hours, $1,000 for 9 hours or more (sections 12 and 19(1)). In the same situation, if you took a refund instead of the new flight, you're owed $400 (section 19(2)).

Sources

General information, not legal advice.