In June 2002 Michel Leblanc, the main shareholder and previous
presidents of Royal Airlines, established the new discount
airline Jetsgo in Montreal. It started operations with three
flights a day from Montreal to Toronto, and two return trips
from Toronto to Winnipeg and Vancouver. Jetsgo also provided
return flights from Halifax to Toronto each day. Flights between
Stephenville, Newfoundland and Sydney, Nova Scotia were provided
once a week during the summer.
The airline started its operation with 200 employees and
three Boeing MD-83 aircraft, each with 160 seats. The fares
offered by Jetsgo were lower than Air Canada’s discount carrier,
Tango, flying from Montreal to Toronto. Within the first week
Jetsgo carried out $2.1 million of business.
Like WestJet, Jetsgo’s inexpensive service brought increasing
demand that encouraged rapid growth. It provided economical
flights with no frills, using a fleet of low maintenance
aircraft and low fares that brought about high passenger loads
on flights. Other promotions, like booking flights at specific
times for $1 to any destination from Toronto, assisted in
introducing the flying public to their services. Another
promotion offered passengers a new year’s flight from Montreal
to Toronto for $20.04.
By 2004, Jetsgo had 14 aircraft and 590 employees providing
service to about twenty destinations in Canada and the United
States. It was Canada’s third largest airline and had a hold on
almost 10 per cent of the domestic airline market. The company
had expanded to 1200 employees by the end of that same year, but
revenue was beginning to shrink. On March 11, 2005, Jetsgo
planes and computers were removed from airports and President
Michel Leblanc announced that Jetsgo had ceased operations and
was seeking bankruptcy protection. Though the specific reasons
for the company’s demise are not known, experts believe that its
fate came about as a result of the competitive nature of the
discount flight industry. It was revealed that the company had
steadily lost $55 million in the eight months prior to its
abrupt end.
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