T-Bird76
2007-03-27, 11:24 PM
Harmony Airways to end scheduled service
Tue Mar 27, 5:19 PM
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Harmony Airways, a five-year-old Canadian full-service airline, said on Tuesday it will end scheduled flights next month, blaming rising costs and competition from larger rivals.
The privately held carrier said it will lay off 350 workers. It will not seek protection from creditors and might try to reorganize itself into a charter service, however.
Vancouver-based Harmony, founded by entrepreneur David T.K. Ho, has operated a small fleet of Boeing 757-200 jets, flying mostly between large Canadian cities and U.S. vacation spots.
It is the latest of several Canadian start-up airlines to be grounded in recent years in a sector dominated by Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, and WestJet Airlines, the No. 2 player.
The last big shutdown was that of CanJet Airlines in September 2006. The four-year-old carrier also blamed rising costs and stiff competition for the demise of its scheduled service.
Harmony said service between Vancouver and Toronto would end March 30, and other scheduled passenger service would be shut down April 9.
Passengers who have already booked flights will receive full refunds.
Rival WestJet said it will accommodate some of Harmony's customers by extending seat sales it has in place for flights to Hawaiian destinations and Las Vegas. It will evaluate how long to keep offering the sale prices, it said.
However, the airline said it has no plans to change its long-term pricing strategy as a result of Harmony's shutdown.
"While such announcements from the airline industry are sobering, we believe the makeup of the Canadian airline industry is extremely viable for two strong national competitors," WestJet vice-president Bob Cummings said in a statement.
Tue Mar 27, 5:19 PM
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Harmony Airways, a five-year-old Canadian full-service airline, said on Tuesday it will end scheduled flights next month, blaming rising costs and competition from larger rivals.
The privately held carrier said it will lay off 350 workers. It will not seek protection from creditors and might try to reorganize itself into a charter service, however.
Vancouver-based Harmony, founded by entrepreneur David T.K. Ho, has operated a small fleet of Boeing 757-200 jets, flying mostly between large Canadian cities and U.S. vacation spots.
It is the latest of several Canadian start-up airlines to be grounded in recent years in a sector dominated by Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, and WestJet Airlines, the No. 2 player.
The last big shutdown was that of CanJet Airlines in September 2006. The four-year-old carrier also blamed rising costs and stiff competition for the demise of its scheduled service.
Harmony said service between Vancouver and Toronto would end March 30, and other scheduled passenger service would be shut down April 9.
Passengers who have already booked flights will receive full refunds.
Rival WestJet said it will accommodate some of Harmony's customers by extending seat sales it has in place for flights to Hawaiian destinations and Las Vegas. It will evaluate how long to keep offering the sale prices, it said.
However, the airline said it has no plans to change its long-term pricing strategy as a result of Harmony's shutdown.
"While such announcements from the airline industry are sobering, we believe the makeup of the Canadian airline industry is extremely viable for two strong national competitors," WestJet vice-president Bob Cummings said in a statement.