'It can happen to any of us': Northern Ontario airports concerned about losing airline service
Airport leaders in northern Ontario are voicing concern about airlines pulling out following Air Canada's decision to discontinue flights to North Bay, as they work to boost service demand following the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When any of our sister airports receive news like that, it's a concern for all regional airports across not just Ontario, but Canada, because your immediate thought is if it can happen to them, it can happen to any of us," said Sudbury Airport CEO Giovanna Verrilli.
Last month, Air Canada announced that flights between North Bay and Toronto will stop in January. North Bay's airport manager, Bryan Avery, said the notice is "devastating" and called for a national strategy to ensure continued air service to the region.
At the same time, airports across northern Ontario are still working to rebuild after the pandemic, which virtually halted most air travel.
Verrilli said even that this year, the Sudbury airport saw only about 60 per cent of the passengers they saw pre-COVID.
"Like any regional airport, the recovery since the pandemic has been slow. One of the key priorities for us as an airport has been ensuring that we are focused on air service development, attracting new routes and new carriers."
Verrilli said the Sudbury airport is focused on increasing service in order to "protect the business for the community."
"What I can say is that this year has been a successful year for us in producing those new routes," Verrilli added, pointing to the addition of flights to Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal and Québec City.
Timmins to lose an Air Canada flight this winter
Dave Dayment, manager of the Timmins Airport, said they also took a massive hit during the pandemic.
"Most of us lost all, if not most of all, our scheduled traffic," Dayment said.
"Ours is coming back. I have the ability to have traffic that needs to go most north and south, meaning to the James Bay Coast and down to Toronto."
As a department of the City of Timmins that's not paid for with property tax dollars, Dayment said the airport's revenue must cover its own expenses.
"Right now, we are on the plus side, and we've been able to put a reserve back together so we have some money in reserve in case something comes," he said.
The goal is to have one year's worth of operating costs in reserve, according to Dayment, who said that while they're not quite there yet, they're very close and have a few million in the bank to "get us over a speed bump if we run into one."
He's worried the Timmins airport could lose some of its carriers, especially as Air Canada — which has been running three flights a day since spring — will cancel its early-morning flight this winter.
"We're going to go to two flights a day for those four days and three flights a day for the other three. So we are having a reduction for the winter," Dayment said.
"That's going to cost us… it's 140 plus seats and the landing fees and terminal fees and passenger fees that go with that — that's a couple thousand dollars of turnaround that we lose. So it adds up at the end of the month."
Sault Ste. Marie cautious about the future
Terry Bos, president and CEO of Sault Ste. Marie Airport, said it came as "a shock" to learn Air Canada was pulling service from North Bay.
"I knew they were down to one flight a day, which is very tough for an airline to operate. You really need about two flights a day in order to get in and out in the morning and the night so that people aren't spending an extra night in Toronto," Bos said.
While he isn't concerned that Air Canada could pull out of Sault Ste. Marie, he is worried that the airport won't see its third daily flight return.
"We really need that third flight back in order to get our passenger numbers growing again. We're pretty much capped at where we are right now with the number of seats that are available in the market."
He added there's concern about Air Canada increasing the size of its aircraft, potentially cutting the number of daily flights.
"Because if you end up in a situation, like I said, where you're only on one flight a day, it makes it very difficult," Bos said.
Bos explained the Sault Ste. Marie airport is focused on "cash conservation" and is operating at about 60 per cent of what it was prior to the pandemic.
"We do need to see the passenger levels return in order to get into big capital projects in the future. But right now we're focused on the need-to-do stuff and obviously maintaining our operation — and we're kind of putting to the side the nice-to-do stuff."
When asked what the business case is for all levels of government to invest in airports in the north, Bos pointed to the distances between northern cities.
"I believe airports are economic drivers for their community and all the levels of government really need to recognize that," Bos said.
"Airports bring in cargo. These airports bring in people. These airports bring in medical supplies. They're extremely important, especially here in the north."