Fort Smith (Dec 20/04) - A last-minute reprieve has saved Saturday scheduled air service to and from Fort Smith.

As of Jan. 1, Northwestern Air Lease Ltd. was ready to halt its Saturday flight to Yellowknife and back during the winter because it would have had to pay for runway snow clearing.

Previously, there was no charge for Saturday snowclearing, even though it was outside the official hours of operation.

On Friday, the Airports Division of the Department of Transportation said it will expand the airport's hours of operation.

"We've decided to cover off all of the scheduled flights at the Fort Smith Airport, including the Saturday flights," said Marvin Zaozirny, the director of the Airports Division.

Zaozirny said it is anticipated that scheduled service on statutory holidays will also be covered.

The Airports Division is very happy a solution has been found to the issue, he said, noting it was a result of continuing consultations.

Northwestern Air Lease general manager Gordon Bush was reluctant to comment on the new arrangement on Friday.

"I want to make sure it's official," Bush said, although he added it appeared to be a step forward.

He said it would have cost the company between $200-$1,000 to pay the airport to clear the runway, depending on the amount of equipment needed.

Standardized hours

Zaozirny said the idea not to clear the runway on Saturdays had been contemplated because of new standardized hours of operation for airports, and not as a cost-cutting measure.

The winter hours of operation at the Fort Smith Airport recently increased from 40 to 60 hours a week -- 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, excluding statutory holidays. That will now include a three-hour period on Saturday for the departure and arrival of the Northwestern Air Lease plane.

The previous hours were 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, excluding statutory holidays.

There will still be a charge for snowclearing outside the new hours of operation.

Zaozirny said if an air ambulance needs to use the airport outside of normal operating hours and snowclearing is required, the service operator, Air Tindi, would still be billed, but they could forward the charge to the Department of Health and Social Services.