Airlines serving remote areas get $12M cash infusion

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This article was published 02/02/2021 (1931 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Regional airlines serving remote communities in the northern Manitoba have continued flying throughout the pandemic even though they were losing money doing it.

On Monday, the federal government, with support from the province, announced $12 million in funding for five airlines to compensate for losses last year from July to December.

Perimeter Aviation received more than half of the total even though Calm Air, for instance, is a larger operation, but most of Perimeter’s scheduled routes are to communities that have no road access other than winter roads.

The funding package was a long time in coming. In August, the federal government said it would earmark about $75 million for such support across the country.

Last week, it announced about $11 million for regional airlines in Ontario.

The fact that regional airlines in Manitoba received a little more than Ontario — whose population is more than 10 times Manitoba’s — is a reflection of the fact that there are so many isolated communities in this province that depend on air travel as their only way to get in and out of the communities.

Perimeter Aviation will receive about $7 million, Calm Air gets $2 million, Northway Aviation $1,357,317, Missinippi Air $967,049 and Amik Aviation gets $710,978.

Perimeter and Calm Air are both owned by Exchange Income Corp.

Mike Pyle, CEO of Exchange, said the financial assistance is much appreciated.

“The bottom line is we have a social responsibility to look after our customers and that is what we did,” he said. “We are pleased the government is helping us with that social responsibility.”

Revenue for Perimeter and Calm was down 40 per cent in the third quarter, which included some of the summer months when travel was less restricted. Pyle said revenue for the second and fourth quarters was down even more.

The global aviation industry has been decimated during the pandemic. But when passenger counts are down, most commercial airlines can decide to cancel routes reducing their losses. If people still need to get from Winnipeg to Regina, for instance, they can drive.

“But in most of the places we are servicing we are the predominant or the only carrier,” Pyle said. “Those people can’t get in or out. There are things and people that need to move no matter what.”

There have been travel bans to and from the north throughout the pandemic and many First Nation communities have rigorously monitored the movement of people in and out. But medical travel is still essential.

Perimeter and Calm also carry cargo but not on dedicated flights. While the cargo loads have increased, especially during the Christmas season, that revenue does not make up for the dramatic drop in passenger traffic.

Pyle said the airlines his company owns have been flying to some of these communities for 50 years. While scheduled service has been cut back, all of the communities those airlines served continued to receive scheduled service.

“We are not going to abandon them,” he said. “If it was purely based on profit and loss we would have stopped. But we have a social responsibility. We have kept flying through all of this.”

Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, also appreciated the support.

“For our remote and isolated First Nations, the airlines provide a lifeline to the outside world. These services and supports are especially critical at this time as First Nations in Manitoba face an unprecedented threat to their individual and collective well-being during this second wave of COVID-19.”

He said the funding is a sign of how tripartite co-operation can work.

“I look forward to ongoing engagement with the province and with Transport Canada on how air and transportation infrastructure can be further improved in northern Manitoba as we recover from the pandemic,” he said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca