Yellowknife-Edmonton air space still uneven -- King
Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 21/01) - When First Air changes the code on its flights between Yellowknife and Edmonton, the competitive environment will be "more equal," said a Canadian North spokesperson.
Michael King, Canadian North's vice-president and general manager, acknowledged that the change is good for his company, but when it comes to the Yellowknife-Edmonton route, it does not go far enough toward putting Canadian North on an equal footing with First Air.
On March 18, First Air will adopt its 7F code for flights between Yellowknife and Edmonton.
Prior to that date, because of a code-sharing arrangement, all First Air's flights carry Air Canada's AC code.
Next month's change means the industry will see First Air's 7F code and Canadian North's 5T code, representing the airlines operating between Yellowknife and Edmonton.
But First Air may still have a leg up on Canadian North on the Yellowknife-Edmonton route because First Air can continue to code-share with Air Canada on some seats.
That means the industry will in fact see three options for travel between Yellowknife and Edmonton: First Air's 7F code, Canadian North's 5T code as well as Air Canada's AC code.
The 7F and 5T codes reflect the actual airlines flying the route but the AC code is in fact First Air because of continued code sharing between First Air and Air Canada.
Canadian North's concern is one of name recognition. Customers and travel agents might chose the AC code -- resulting in business for First Air -- because it's immediately recognizable.
Airline code-sharing arrangements mean someone flying, for example, on Air Canada from Toronto to Yellowknife automatically gets put on a First Air plane from Edmonton to Yellowknife.
When First Air becomes 7F for Yellowknife-Edmonton traffic, it goes "half-way" to resolving the issue, King said. First Air is still allowed to code-share some seats on its Yellowknife-Edmonton flights with Air Canada, he said.
"There are still issues with the block code-sharing (between First Air and Air Canada)."
Prior to last year's restructuring of the country's airline industry, Makivik-owned First Air and NorTerra-owned Canadian North had code-share arrangements with Air Canada and Canadian Airlines respectively.
Each had a big carrier that would automatically route business to them because they shared codes.
But when Air Canada bought Canadian Airlines, Canadian North was out in the cold with no code-share arrangement and was forced to establish its own code, while First Air continued sharing with Air Canada.
Canadian North said it had always planned to set up its own code, but the move was hastened by the merger down south.
Jim Ballingall, First Air's vice-president, marketing and sales, said any code sharing between First Air and Air Canada dates back to First Air's 1997 acquisition of NWT Air from Air Canada.
"This was agreed to in the NWT Air purchase.
"We're in the process of taking the AC code off most of our western flights," he said.
"Right now we're working on brand recognition, this (adopting the 7F code) allows us to get First Air brand established in the west."
First Air has used its 7F code in other markets for several years.
