3J WZP Parent company Air Canada Website 4321ZIP.com Headquarters Calgary, Canada Fleet size 12 | WZP ZIPPER Key people Steve Smith Ceased operations September 2004 Founded September 2002 | |
Zip was a Canadian discount airline headquartered in Hangar 101 at Calgary International Airport, Calgary, Alberta. It was launched by Air Canada as a no-frills subsidiary in September 2002. It operated a fleet of 12 Boeing 737 aircraft, each painted in a bright, neon colour (blue, fuchsia, green, and orange) with a single class of service. The subsidiary was headed by former WestJet CEO, Steve Smith.
As a direct competition to Canada's leading low-cost carrier WestJet, Zip flew mostly between the western cities of Abbotsford, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg.
Zip ceased operations in September 2004 when Air Canada resumed a full schedule on its western routes.
Branding
Zip was known for branding its advertising with 3 character words. Among them, "yuk" was printed on the air sickness bags, "bag" was printed on the personal baggage tags, and "yum" was printed on the napkins distributed with beverages on board. Large print advertisements were erected in many cities, which simply said "fly" and the company's website below, 4321zip.com. Today, the website redirects to the official Air Canada website, along with other subsidiaries' websites.