GREYHOUND THINKS CANADIAN
By Adnews Staff
Calgary-based Greyhound Lines of Canada will become 100%-Canadian-owned under a restructuring proposal announced last week. Currently the company is 68.5%-owned by Dial Corp. of Phoenix. Under the proposed deal, Dial will sell its share in Greyhound to current minority shareholders in Canada. At the same time, the U.S. company will take over Greyhound's hotel and tourism subsidiary, Brewster Transport Co. Greyhound will change its name to Greyhound Canada Transport Corp. The deal is subject to shareholder approval. The move could help Greyhound's new discount airline, Greyhound Air, get off the ground. Earlier this month the National Transportation Agency of Canada told the company it couldn't fly without a licence. Greyhound says it doesn't need a licence because its partner in the venture, Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter, is already licensed and will operate the aircraft. Greyhound also says it is not an airline, but a wholesale tour operator chartering the aircraft from Kelowna Flightcraft. Greyhound is appealing the federal regulator's ruling, but if it ends up needing a licence it will not be able to do so under its current ownership. Federal regulations say foreign investors can own no more than 25% of a Canadian airline. Greyhound plans to make its first flights May 22. It is currently advertising the new service with a TV campaign handled by Palmer Jarvis Advertising of Vancouver.