Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (July 26/99) - Air transportation services in Lutsel K'e have taken a big leap skyward, according to Arctic Airports, a division of the GNWT Transportation Department.

With the opening of a new Community Aerodrome Radio Station (CARS), aircraft flying in and out of Lutsel K'e now have someone on the ground providing weather and airplane movement information.

The community's airport terminal was built in 1995 by Arctic Airports and at that time, space was left available for a possible CARS station.

The CARS, opened last month, is operated by Lutsel K'e resident Joyce Desjarlais. The community, located on Great Slave Lake's East Arm, has a population of about 360 people.

Desjarlais, a CARS observer/communicator, took a nine-week course plus on-the-job training and certification. The course is offered through Aurora College in Fort Smith. In August, two others will join the Lutsel K'e CARS staff.

With three staff, the Lutsel K'e CARS will expand hours of operation from 45 hours to 65 hours per week.

There are about 40 observer/communicators in the NWT and about 85 per cent are Aboriginal, according to Sam Tibbitt, Arctic Airports aviation programs manager, said.

Through her seasonal job with the Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Desjarlais said she gained experience in radio and weather information but Desjarlais said this new job is a new challenge and a new opportunity.

It also means she is essentially her "own boss," she said.

Setting up the station in Lutsel K'e -- the community of Rae Lakes will also get a CARS station in November -- was among recommendations made in Nav Canada's Northern aeronautical survey. When Nav Canada took over the country's air navigation systems from the federal government, it not only restructured the fee schedule, it also studied services in the North.

Nav Canada funds the CARS station as well as the training. The GNWT's Arctic Airports division, through the Lutsel K'e band, manages the North's CARS stations.

"The safety factor is very important because of our remote location," Lutsel K'e band manager Herb Strongeagle said.

"It was a good move," he said.

"In the summer, there are a lot of planes coming in," he said.

Each week, Air Tindi has eight scheduled flights between Yellowknife and Lutsel K'e. Arctic Sunwest also flies in every Wednesday picking up and dropping off residents of Lutsel K'e, like Alfred Catholique and George Marlowe, who work at the Ekati mine.

Strongeagle also said the CARS "means more employment for the community. We've already designed a schedule for (three staff)."