RANKIN INLET - A decision by Rankin Inlet hamlet council to curb overtime hours at the local airport has put people in danger, said an air traffic specialist with Nav Canada.

John Burry said the services the hamlet's decision has cancelled are directly related to airport safety.

He said the decision will affect the response time of airport staff to after-hours emergencies, as well as pilot requests for a runway-surface-condition report.

The hamlet's contract with Nunavut's Department of Transportation calls for it to maintain the runway from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m.

"First Air, for example, has regularly scheduled flights that land in Rankin at 6 p.m. and they're very particular about runway conditions," said Burry.

"If they can't get runway updates on surface conditions, they're not even going to try and land.

"The condition of a runway can change dramatically in 30 minutes."

Burry has also raised questions about what the hamlet may be doing with the money it receives from airlines requesting runway updates.

He said airlines pay the hamlet $300 per person for every call-out.

"Are they taking the money they're getting paid by the airlines to come out and do these runway updates and putting it to some other use?

"Obviously they're doing something with it because it's disappearing.

"This decision was made by a group of people who, obviously, have no idea about airport operations.

"It's nothing more than a political ploy to try and get more money out of the government and it's putting people's loved ones in danger."

Curry said the hamlet wanting all overtime requests submitted in advance is crazy.

He said it's insane to expect an airport supervisor to go tracking someone down at 3 a.m. to sign a piece of paper to make the runway usable for a medevac flight, while leaving people in an unsafe situation.

"Someone could get hurt or sick and be unable to get medevaced out because the hamlet isn't approving overtime and the runway isn't suitable for departures on a timely matter.

"I can't stress enough how potentially dangerous this situation can be for everyone in Rankin Inlet.

"The hamlet never even as much as notified Nav Canada or any of the airlines that depend on these services of its decision.

"The potential for a dangerous situation is appalling!"

Hamlet councillor and finance committee member Ron Roach said the airport contract was about $200,000 over budget at the three-quarter mark of the current fiscal year ($100,000 in the purchase of supplies and materials and $100,000 in wages) and has to be brought under control.

He said the hamlet's decision will not affect emergency situations or a pilot's ability to land safely.

"Overtime is still allowed at the airport if there's a call-out fee attached to it, and medevacs will be dealt with the same way they always have," said Roach.

"As soon as we get a call for a runway update or a runway to be cleared, a crew will head to the airport and make sure it's serviceable.

"For anyone at Nav Canada to say this is a safety issue is completely unfounded."

Roach said council has to find out how wages got so far over budget.

He has instructed the finance department to examine the payroll from April 1, 2006, until now to find out where the overtime has been so high.

"We also have to examine the airport logs to ensure call-out fees were charged to the appropriate airlines.

"It appears either the proper overtime controls weren't put in place or they weren't followed properly."

The hamlet receives about $1 million a year from the government for its airport contract.

Roach said employees have received a three-per-cent raise each of the past three years, as per the collective agreement, but funding for the airport contract hasn't changed during the past five years.

He said the contract has become a money-losing endeavour for the hamlet.

"We will be sitting down with the government to review the numbers and see if our budget can be increased.

"We have to agree on a realistic cost of running the airport next year because, if we're going to continue losing money, we'll have no choice but to give the contract up.

"This is not a pressure tactic to get more money out of the government.

"Council would never put people in our community at risk over money."