SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - First Air will be cutting several jobs in Yellowknife following last week's announcement that the company is reducing its Yellowknife to Edmonton route by ten flights a week.

After announcing plans to scale back its service between Edmonton and Yellowknife, First Air plans to cut 20 jobs across the country. - NNSL file photo

The company went to six flights a week from 16.

Chris Ferris, vice-president of marketing and sales at First Air, said no employees have been let go yet but the company is looking at reducing six full-time positions in Yellowknife.

"We're anticipating a minor impact at the ticket counter and also with flight attendants," he said.

This includes three counter attendants, one flight attendant and two pilot or flight crew positions.

He said the number doesn't automatically translate into six people losing their jobs because some positions aren't currently filled.

"The actual impact on people will be less than that number," he said. "At the ticket counter, we were showing three positions, but we currently have two vacancies."

Speaking from the head office in Kanata, Ont., Ferris said the company is getting rid of 20 positions across the country. "The bulk of the impact is on the flight attendants based out of Ottawa and Edmonton," he said.

The company is now in negotiations with the employee's union about job sharing, said Ferris.

"I'm cautious to give actual numbers ... there could be less of an impact," he said.

He anticipates the changes will be made by the end of April.

Last week, First Air announced the service between Yellowknife and Edmonton would be scaled back from 16 to six flights per week.

At the time, Ferris said the changes were made because, "It's almost like it's become a southern market."

There have been several changes since the end of March, including the cancellation of the Yellowknife to Whitehorse route and new stops in the Kivalliq region and a flight to Montreal after the Iqaluit leg. First Air also announced they will be offering a new service to Norman Wells four days a week. A stopover during the current service to Inuvik, Ferris said the company is working to set up the ground handling and customer service with local agencies.

"It has a minimal impact because we're virtually flying over Norman Wells now," he said.

The airline has 1,052 employees across Canada, with approximately 250 people working out of Yellowknife.

"Overall, in the context of how many employees we have, and how many employees we have at the Yellowknife and Edmonton bases, it is not a dramatic number of cuts," he said.

Ferris said he didn't anticipate any other staffing changes unless the company adds another route or buys another carrier. Calling the airline a "major community player," Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said he viewed the job cuts as a "sad occasion."

"This is certainly a signal to remind us how important our local economy is," he said. "We must find ways to support out Northern airlines as we can. They are the backbone of our local economy."

Yellowknife Mayor Gordon Van Tighem said the changes reflect the company's shift to focusing on Northern operations, which wasn't necessarily negative.

"The bigger picture is they need to remain healthy as a company so it can keep contributing to the community," he said. He said with so many employees living and working here, "Their long-term financial health is important to the community (of Yellowknife) as well."

Van Tighem said it would be interesting to see how other airlines respond given there is now a gap in early-morning service to Edmonton.