The latest changes follow publication of a July 7 News/North story on the planned hike. The airlines are now working on a revised set of changes, saying there may have been some confusion regarding the new reward levels, which were first unveiled in the May-June Aeroplan bulletin.

A new reward chart for Aeroplan frequent-flyers is now in the works. A draft grid obtained by News/North adds new short-haul flights that were not mentioned in the May-June chart.

Short hauls listed in the new draft include flights between Yellowknife and Calgary, Rankin Inlet and Winnipeg, Iqaluit and Montreal-Ottawa, Yellowknife and Rankin Inlet and other destinations as well.

And the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario have been added to the list, to take into account the above flights.

Short-haul Aeroplan flights require 15,000 frequent-flyer points, while all others require at least 25,000 points.

Concerns arose when the May-June Aeroplan bulletin indicated that most flights from the NWT to southern destinations would no longer be considered short-hauls and would require 25,000 points, instead of 15,000.

(NWT's main competitor, Canadian North, has not announced any changes to its list of short-haul flights available for 15,000 points.)

But confusion remains when one contacts Aeroplan agents in Montreal to claim reward miles for short hauls. Three different agents contacted by News/North each offered different versions of which flights are considered short-haul for Aeroplan reward purposes.

And when Nicole Couture-Simard, an Air Canada spokeswoman in Montreal, was asked about the new draft chart she said only, "I wouldn't know about that."

Tracy St. Denis, manager of sales development and corporate communications with NWT Air in Yellowknife said the new system is "being clarified with the agents."

Why the changes came about is also unclear. According to NWT Air, evaluation of the Aeroplan reward miles program began late last year. First Air, however, says changes were initiated by its company in January 1997.

And earlier this month, Sandie Dexter, an Air Canada spokeswoman, told xxxNews/North that the

the loss of eligible short-haul flights outlined in the May-June bulletin was the result of a joint request from the two airlines.

Whatever the case, the drastic cuts in short-haul eligibility are being scaled back, and those changes still in the works won't be forced on Northerners for at least another year.

"People can get Aeroplan certificates before Sept. 1, good for travel for an additional year at the current point redemption level," added St. Denis. "Therefore there's flexibility in the redemption changes to give Northerners ample time to make their travel plans."

The change affects Northerners and southerners alike and it's not solely for travel originating in the North.

In the most recent bulletin (July-August), Aeroplan notes its program has been extended by one year. Travellers now have until Dec. 31, 1998, to accumulate Aeroplan miles and until March 31, 1999, to request Aeroplan rewards.

Says Couture-Simard: "These extensions have been ongoing since 1984 and there are no plans to cease the Aeroplan program at the end of the extension."

The latest changes to what Aeroplan considers short-haul flights aren't the first. In the late 1980s, NWT travellers could get as far as the western United States on short-haul flights.

Such travel was later limited to flights to Washington and Oregon and then American destinations were removed from the list altogether, leaving British Columbia as the only eligible West Coast destination.

Now the furthest west travellers can get on short-haul flights from the western NWT is Alberta.