Real ID goes into effect: How Arizona flyers are faring
Travelers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport appear to be prepared for the new federal requirement of Real ID for all flyers on May 7, 2025.
- Flair Airlines will not fly to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport from Canada during winter 2025-26.
- Flair has cut flights at other U.S. airports in recent months.
- Political tensions and a weak Canadian dollar are contributing to reduced demand for flights to the U.S.
One of the four airlines with flights from Phoenix to Canada does not plan to return to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport the 2025-26 winter tourism season.
Flair Airlines, a Canadian ultra-low-cost carrier known for the acid-green color scheme of its jets, said Phoenix is not included in its flight schedule for the upcoming season.
When The Arizona Republic checked flight schedules on Flair’s website, Phoenix did not appear on the drop-down menu of available locations for booking flights.
Flair Airlines has flown to Sky Harbor Airport since 2023, when it repositioned its seasonal flights to and from Canada from Mesa Gateway Airport.
Why Flair Airlines ended its Canada-Phoenix flights
Eric Tanner, Flair Airlines’ vice president of commercial operations, provided the following statement regarding the airline’s service from Phoenix:
“Flair’s service to Phoenix concluded on April 8, 2025, as part of our planned seasonal schedule. At this time, Phoenix is not included in our 2025-26 winter schedule. However, our network remains agile and responsive to demand, and we continuously evaluate route performance and customer interest as we plan future seasonal schedules.”
Flair has been cutting service at U.S. airports in recent months because of a slowdown in bookings for U.S. travel.
Miles Zimbaluk, CEO of the cross-border services company Canada to USA, attributed the declining demand to Canadian travelers’ negative sentiment of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and his calls to annex Canada as the 51st state, as well as a weak Canadian dollar.
Flair confirmed in March that it would end its 2024-25 season in Phoenix weeks earlier than originally scheduled, but did not say whether the three routes it offered from Phoenix would return for the following season. A Flair spokesperson told The Arizona Republic at the time, “We don’t speculate on the future but will continue to assess our network based on demand.”
The Republic found through an archived version of Flair’s website on Archive.org that Phoenix flights for the 2024-25 season were available for booking at this point last year. When asked to confirm this information, a Flair spokesperson said, “Phoenix was only ever a seasonal route.”
Is travel to the US from Canada declining?
In March, Zimbaluk’s company commissioned a study of Canadian consumers that found about 75% plan to cancel or reduce their travel plans to the U.S.
That impacted Flair’s service out of Phoenix.
Flair flew 27,317 passengers to and from Phoenix during its 2024-25 season, which lasted from December 2024 to April 2025, according to Sky Harbor’s passenger data. That’s about 5,100 fewer passengers than the 32,421 passengers that Flair carried during its 2023-24 season, which began October 2023 and ended May 2024, data showed.
Sky Harbor spokesman Greg Roybal told The Republic that international travel is slowing compared to past gains.
What is Flair Airlines?
Flair Airlines launched in 2005 as a cargo-only operation and expanded into passenger service when it purchased NewLeaf Travel Company, which purchased seats on airlines and resold them to the public.
Flair began serving Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport during the 2023-24 winter season, offering flights to and from Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Alberta cities of Calgary and Edmonton. It formerly operated seasonal flights to Canada out of Mesa Gateway Airport and Tucson International Airport, but ended service at both airports in 2023.
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What airlines fly from Canada to Phoenix?
Three Canadian airlines still fly nonstop from Canada to Phoenix: WestJet, Air Canada and Porter Airlines. Their routes include all three cities Flair flew to seasonally.
Arizonans can fly nonstop from Phoenix to Vancouver via WestJet and Air Canada. WestJet has nonstop flights to Calgary and Edmonton.
Here’s the full list of where travelers can fly nonstop from Phoenix to Canada:
- Air Canada: Montreal, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia.
- WestJet: Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; Kelowna, British Columbia; Regina, Saskatchewan; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Vancouver; Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- Porter Airlines: Toronto.
U.S. airlines including Alaska, American, Delta and United have connecting flights from Phoenix to Canadian cities.
Other international airlines cut flights to Phoenix
Flair is the third international airline to depart from Sky Harbor in the last 18 months.
Another Canadian ultra-low-cost carrier, Lynx Air, went out of business in February 2024. It launched service out of Sky Harbor just a year earlier with a nonstop flight to Calgary and added a Toronto flight just months before its shutdown.
Condor Airlines ended service between Phoenix and Frankfurt, Germany in December 2024. The move followed a German court ruling that found Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa was not required to give Condor access to its feeder network, which connects smaller airlines with larger hub airports.
Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com.
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