Boyle’s past business history is an interesting amalgam of highs and lows.  .

In the seventies Boyle and his brother John, began what was then tour operator Falcon Leisure.  

Recognizing the growing demand for air-only, at that time prohibited by UK legislation, the Boyles added cheap throw-away hostel rooms to the flights and were therefore perfectly positioned when the legislation changed. In 1983 the company was sold to Owners Abroad for £2 ($3.1) million then worth considerably more than what it would be in today’s currency.

The brothers later began a new venture in Scotland, Direct Holidays which they subsequently sold in 1997 to My Travel for a reported £84 ($130.60) milliion.

Crossing the pond

Deciding to give Canada the benefit of their experience, the Boyles began Go Travel Direct in Ottawa, using their tried and tested model of bypassing travel agents and pitching directly to consumers, on the premise that by eliminating the agent they could pass on the savings to the client .

Then having cut out one third party why not cut another?

Zoom Airlines Inc. was founded by the Boyles in May 2002 as a low-fare transatlantic airline.

In the summer of 2006, a sister company was opened in the UK known as Zoom Airlines Limited.

It operated until 28 August 2008, when it ceased trading along with its Canadian sibling.

In January 2009, after an investigation by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) regarding the advertising, marketing and selling of flights from Canada to London and Paris, Go Travel Direct was warned by the government against advertising and selling travel prior to licensing approval.  

Boyle shrugged that off and was reported at the time as saying he was optimistic about the situation, suggesting that the  approvals of his transatlantic flights from Canadian gateways to London and Paris with Finnair would be “just red tape”.

A month later Boyle cancelled his European plans for the year and targeted 2010 for his European venture, dumping (or perhaps being dumped by) Finnair in exchange for XL Airways.

E-Clearing the air

In the midst of all this came the fiasco with credit card processing company, E-Clear, which saw XL, Globespan, and Zoom all collapse likely due to withheld funds.  

Boyle’s legal claim for $500,000 (which seems small, given some of the other numbers that have been cited) from E-Clear, came two weeks after the failure of Globespan which left 4,500 travellers stranded overseas.

E-Clear had allegedly been withholding payments for completed Globespan flights at a rate of about £1 million a week since the summer. (Flyglobespan had a codeshare agreement with Zoom for the 2006/2007 winter season.)

At the same time it was withholding payments E-Clear managed to have the cojones to offer itself as a potential rescue investor in Globespan.

He could look but not touch

Meanwhile, back in Canada, The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO), had been apparently keeping a close watch on Go Travel Direct.

When the company voluntarily shut up shop in Ottawa and relocated to Halifax, TICO president Michael Pepper made his concerns known to the CTA.

Pepper was concerned that Go Travel South, as it was now called, was operating in a province that offered no protection for consumers.

Nothing however, was, or could be done.  Only Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia have specific travel industry acts and those are provincially regulated.  The CTA is a federal body with no jurisdiction.  

While Pepper has been working for national consumer protection for years, that day is not yet here, and Hugh Boyle, unsurprisingly, maintained that his company's move from TICO protected Ontario, to unprotected Nova Scotia,  had nothing to do with avoiding regulations.

Last week’s failure of Go Travel South took place less than a year after it moved its headquarters to the east coast.

ACTA president, David McCaig, is furious.

“I am disgusted.  The travel industry has worked hard to set high standards and maintain honest, ethical businesses while a few operators take advantage of the government’s wilful ignorance,” he said.

“Each traveller should be asking their MPs and MPPs today why governments let Canadians lose their hard-earned money and have their dreams destroyed.”

Absolutely true.  But consumers should also be asking themselves whether a little research and the services of a professional travel agent, are far more economical and less chancy than booking with the likes of Go Travel South.