| Fact File |
| Yellowknife is the busiest airport in the NWT/Nunavut. Just over half its total aircraft movements in 1998 were commercial. Comparatively, it's an airport about 40 per cent busier that Whitehorse but about 13 per cent shy of traffic numbers in Windsor, Ont. |
| Pearson International Airport in Toronto has just eight times the takeoffs and landings as Yellowknife airport. Of total aircraft movements of 52,739, some 30,398 were commercial, 3,429 private or government and 18,912 were local. |
| Yellowknife airport also sees several military flights. In 1998, military aircraft movements totalled 2,859. Of the total, 2,647 were local and 212 were itinerant. |
Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Nov 15/99) - Southern Canada could still be moving toward one national airline, but Northerners will continue to have a choice.
"There's still a lot of uncertainty about Air Canada's proposal. Air Canada (if it bought Canadian Airlines) could continue to operate Canadian separately," Carmen Loberg, president of NorTerra-owned Canadian North, said Wednesday.
Despite Onex Corp. pulling the plug on its plan, Air Canada may go ahead with its proposal to buy Canadian Airlines. But American Airlines parent AMR Corp., Canadian's largest shareholder, might block that move. "I see the North being well-positioned to enjoy competitive service either way," Loberg said.
Canadian North and First Air recently made presentations to the House of Commons Transportation Standing Committee.
Canadian North told the committee that whatever happens in southern Canada, it wants policy makers to "ensure competition would continue in the North," Loberg said Wednesday.
Transportation Minister David Collonette and the standing committee have said that remote regions are not to be disadvantaged by changes to the nation's transportation sector, Loberg adds.
As for recent announcements, Canadian North expanded service earlier this month.
After NorTerra acquired Canadian North from Canadian Airlines, it was only a matter of time before the carrier launched service between Ottawa and Iqaluit. The launch meant a return of competition on the Iqaluit-Ottawa run. On this and various other routes, Canadian North competes with First Air.
NorTerra is owned by Nunasi and the Inuvialuit Development Corp.
First Air has suggested Onex Corp.'s plan to buy and merge Air Canada and Canadian Airlines threatened its viability. First Air and Canadian North have deals with Air Canada and Canadian Airlines. First Air suggests if there were only one national carrier, then it would not want to compete with itself in the North leaving one Northern carrier out in the cold.
Founded in 1946 as Bradley Air Services, Makivik-owned First Air is now Canada's third largest airline. In 1998, the company made a modest profit on $165 million in sales.
Among its fleet of 31 aircraft are three Boeing 737s, six Boeing 727s and Canada's only commercial Hercules.
Of its 1,000 employees, about 450 live in the North.
First Air president Bob Davis could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In 1998, First Air and Air Canada signed a commercial agreement, renewable up to 15 years, under which the two airlines share various services and products.
First Air, which estimates it will carry 210,000 passengers and 20 million kilograms cargo this year, is owned by the 9,000 Inuit of Northern Quebec, through Makivik. Makivik, created to invest proceeds of the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, bought First Air in 1990.
