Post by IAMCAPER on Sept 9, 2004 22:21:17 GMT -4
Sydney Airport Authority board chairman Vince MacLean said Wednesday he is prepared to tackle the issue of Air Canada unilaterally reducing air service on a national basis.
“We are not the only one suffering, there are many small communities that are being left behind by Air Canada.
“Cape Bretoners have stood up before to abuse from a national icon, we are prepared to stand up to this abuse,” MacLean said.
“What Air Canada is doing is looking to maximize profits, but they are not responding to the national need of communities like Cape Breton.”
Instead, he said, the carrier is more prepared to keep the higher-end passengers flying and take the highest fares possible, than try to act like a discount carrier and offer some reasonable rates.
Sydney Airport Authority will close its two runways beginning Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for maintenance until further notice.
The maintenance an-nouncement is the latest volley in a dispute with Air Canada after they sub-contracted two of five daily flights into Sydney to subsidiary Air Georgian. The carrier will use a 19-passenger Beech aircraft in place of the Air Canada Jazz 37-passenger Dash-8 plane.
The airport authority initially banned the flights which started Tuesday, which prompted a letter from Air Georgian president Paul Mulrooney noting the company will hold the authority responsible for any losses.
The response from the community – from people who fly regularly – is that something should have been done long ago.
Sydney businessman Irving Schwartz uses the airline regularly, once or twice a week.
“I find the planes usage very high, the load factor very high.”
Schwartz thinks Air Canada misjudged the demand. They made a mistake when they took a couple of flights off earlier in the year which proved to be a fiasco and he thinks this move by the carrier is also a fiasco.
“They made this decision without looking at the figures coming out of Sydney.”
The noon and 3 p.m. flights between Halifax and Sydney – which were replaced by the smaller 19-seat Beech aircraft – also have a good passenger complement on most flights, he noted.
Joneljim Construction owner Jim Kehoe said it is terrible when they downgrade a service.
“People just won’t use them. Dash-8s are a nice plane, they are safe and they are nice to fly in.”
Kehoe said anytime he has flown on the 37-seat aircraft the passenger lists have been strong.
People he deals with outside Atlantic Canada tell him they won’t fly in the little planes.
“It puts us at a disadvantage because people just don’t want to come here.”
Alasdair MacLeod, past president of the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce, is another regular user who agrees air flights in and out of Sydney are crucial to building the economy.
“Any interference hurts.”
His experience has been there is a wide variation in the utilization of the aircraft, sometimes these flights are full and sometimes there are a small number of passengers.
“From any overall economic growth point of view we have to have regular flights available,” MacLeod said.
MacLean said Air Canada did not consult with the community on the change in service delivery.
An Air Canada spokesperson told him the smaller aircraft will allow the company to maximize its profits.
“They have been milking this system as much as they can and they continue to do so.”
MacLean also pointed out the argument is not with Air Georgian, but with Air Canada.
“We want to maintain enough capacity. The schedule has already been set and if you are coming in for Celtic Colours (a popular annual music festival) there is no additional flights being booked, nor for Christmas.”
MacLean said he wants a meeting with Air Canada officials to hear their plans for now and in the future.
Retired Air Canada manager E. Murray Wadden, Glace Bay, said an adversarial approach is no way to do business.
During his 30 years with the company he recalls numerous occasions when managers fought long and hard to maintain, expand and improve services to the Atlantic region.
“Our counterparts would respond by asking ‘what portion of our passenger revenues came from all of Atlantic Canada?’”
The region contribution was minimal, he pointed out.
“The Cape Breton part of the passenger numbers is miniscule. We need Air Canada more than they need us,” Wadden said.
“We are not the only one suffering, there are many small communities that are being left behind by Air Canada.
“Cape Bretoners have stood up before to abuse from a national icon, we are prepared to stand up to this abuse,” MacLean said.
“What Air Canada is doing is looking to maximize profits, but they are not responding to the national need of communities like Cape Breton.”
Instead, he said, the carrier is more prepared to keep the higher-end passengers flying and take the highest fares possible, than try to act like a discount carrier and offer some reasonable rates.
Sydney Airport Authority will close its two runways beginning Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for maintenance until further notice.
The maintenance an-nouncement is the latest volley in a dispute with Air Canada after they sub-contracted two of five daily flights into Sydney to subsidiary Air Georgian. The carrier will use a 19-passenger Beech aircraft in place of the Air Canada Jazz 37-passenger Dash-8 plane.
The airport authority initially banned the flights which started Tuesday, which prompted a letter from Air Georgian president Paul Mulrooney noting the company will hold the authority responsible for any losses.
The response from the community – from people who fly regularly – is that something should have been done long ago.
Sydney businessman Irving Schwartz uses the airline regularly, once or twice a week.
“I find the planes usage very high, the load factor very high.”
Schwartz thinks Air Canada misjudged the demand. They made a mistake when they took a couple of flights off earlier in the year which proved to be a fiasco and he thinks this move by the carrier is also a fiasco.
“They made this decision without looking at the figures coming out of Sydney.”
The noon and 3 p.m. flights between Halifax and Sydney – which were replaced by the smaller 19-seat Beech aircraft – also have a good passenger complement on most flights, he noted.
Joneljim Construction owner Jim Kehoe said it is terrible when they downgrade a service.
“People just won’t use them. Dash-8s are a nice plane, they are safe and they are nice to fly in.”
Kehoe said anytime he has flown on the 37-seat aircraft the passenger lists have been strong.
People he deals with outside Atlantic Canada tell him they won’t fly in the little planes.
“It puts us at a disadvantage because people just don’t want to come here.”
Alasdair MacLeod, past president of the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce, is another regular user who agrees air flights in and out of Sydney are crucial to building the economy.
“Any interference hurts.”
His experience has been there is a wide variation in the utilization of the aircraft, sometimes these flights are full and sometimes there are a small number of passengers.
“From any overall economic growth point of view we have to have regular flights available,” MacLeod said.
MacLean said Air Canada did not consult with the community on the change in service delivery.
An Air Canada spokesperson told him the smaller aircraft will allow the company to maximize its profits.
“They have been milking this system as much as they can and they continue to do so.”
MacLean also pointed out the argument is not with Air Georgian, but with Air Canada.
“We want to maintain enough capacity. The schedule has already been set and if you are coming in for Celtic Colours (a popular annual music festival) there is no additional flights being booked, nor for Christmas.”
MacLean said he wants a meeting with Air Canada officials to hear their plans for now and in the future.
Retired Air Canada manager E. Murray Wadden, Glace Bay, said an adversarial approach is no way to do business.
During his 30 years with the company he recalls numerous occasions when managers fought long and hard to maintain, expand and improve services to the Atlantic region.
“Our counterparts would respond by asking ‘what portion of our passenger revenues came from all of Atlantic Canada?’”
The region contribution was minimal, he pointed out.
“The Cape Breton part of the passenger numbers is miniscule. We need Air Canada more than they need us,” Wadden said.