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Jetsgo Airlines Makes it Plain and Simple


Have ticket, will travel? Jetsgo makes no bones about having a truly simple flight plan.It all begins with keeping things real - real people, real needs, real value. And its affordable, because the founding CEO has been in the business long enough to understand that people don't fly to make major airlines rich, but to enrich their own lives. So, hey, Jetsgo and simplifly! For more information and booking. Canadian airline industry veteran Michel Leblanc said his new discount carrier Jetsgo will take flight on June 12, becoming the latest player to take on market leader Air Canada.  Jetsgo will launch with just three planes, offering low-fare, no-frills daily service between Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Weekly flights to Stephenville, Newfoundland, and Sydney, Nova Scotia, will also be available in the summer months. 

 

Leblanc said the service will be similar to Southwest Airlines, whose low-cost model has been been widely emulated. 

Jetsgo will not issue paper tickets and passengers will have to pay extra for food and beverages. 

By starting small and keeping costs low, Leblanc is hoping to escape the fate of former Air Canada rivals such as Canada 3000, which went bankrupt last year amid intense competition and the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We have a cost structure to be effective, profitable, competition," Leblanc told reporters at the airline's launch in Toronto. "We're forecasting to fly over half a million passengers for the the first year, with a projection of annual revenue around C$100 million ($65.3 million)."  Jetsgo will operate three 160-seat Boeing MD-83s and a fourth plane will be delivered in the fall. Leblanc said the airline will use the same make of plane throughout to keep maintenance costs low. 

Leblanc said Air Canada was not operating on a true low-cost model. Jetsgo's workforce of 200 is not unionized and will subcontract services such as baggage handling.  "Customers want a true discount airline, not the imagery of a discount airline - a true discount airline that offers day in, day out low fares competitive with the buses, with the trains, and with your cars," he said. 

The Jetsgo president said he did not consider WestJet to be a competitor because Jetsgo is targeting eastern Canadian customers. But he said they could become rivals as both companies expand. Official Web Site

 

More airline profiles to come on this web site and in our printed magazines.

Snowbirds Take Note
Read about Warm Weather "Escape the Winter" Vacations and the Airlines that get you there. Air Highways Magazine profiles Travel Agents and Tour companies in our Awards Program. Destinations include the Dixie States, Florida, Louisiana and the Great Southwest, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, and Africa. And who knows Africa better than Muguette Goufrani, who has lived in West Africa, Tunisia and Morocco, working with Air Afrique, Royal Air Maroc, Matson Cruise Lines and others.