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Category: North Bay YYB

  • Air Canada set to return to North Bay

    From CTV News – link to source story

    Alana Pickrell, CTV News Northern Ontario videojournalist | Tuesday, April 13, 2021

    Jack Garland

    Following an agreement with the federal government, Air Canada has restored services to the Jack Garland Airport in North Bay. (Alana Pickrell/CTV News)

    NORTH BAY — With a $5.9 billion aid package on the table, Air Canada and the federal government have reached an agreement to bring air services back to the Jack Garland Airport in North Bay.

    “We lost Air Canada due to the pandemic because flights just cratered, but now with the federal government making a deal with Air Canada, one of the stipulations was that they needed to return service to the regional airports and to be honest this is a good news story for us,” said North Bay Mayor Al McDonald.

    “The whole idea here is if you know you have an airport that will start off your trip you don’t have to drive 3.5 hours,” said Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota

    “What’s happening is people from the large cities, such as Toronto or Ottawa, are realizing they don’t have to live in the city to function and that’s something that COVID has brought to us and we have to take full advantage of that and let people know that they can live in a place as beautiful as North Bay and northern Ontario.”

    It will make travel easier for leisure use, but McDonald said it will also create significant growth in the city.

    “What we were hearing from the aviation companies is they need a viable airport and they need to be able to get people back and forth,” he said. “So one we’re going to see expansion in that sector … Secondly, the mining sector is doing well, but they need to move their people around, too.”

    There are several conditions that come with the financial aid, including refunds to Canadian travellers who had to cancel tickets due to the pandemic, maintaining current employment levels across the country and restrictions to ensure the money is going into operations.

    McDonald said there are more than 500 employees that work at the aviation business at the airport and 65 mining companies who rely on air services in the area.

    Will protect jobs

    “The aviator, the mining sector and the government positions use travel quite a bit,” he said. “So those sectors alone make a huge difference in our city and they need to travel. So if they didn’t have air service we more than likely would lose some of those jobs or not even get more of those jobs if the airport wasn’t open.”

    Although a significantly challenging year for the Jack Garland Airport, McDonald said the airport fared better than expected and didn’t require $1.3 million council set aside to help.

    “They did access about $600,000 from the safe start from the province, which is very much appreciated, but they were able to get through this pandemic without really touching the money that city council put aside for them,” he said.

    The money will now go back into city reserves.

    With Air Canada committed to returning once it is safe to do so, officials are hoping to have planes taking off again by June.

    “A lot of work has gone into this deal,” said Rota. “Everyone coming together really made a difference in this and there was a loud voice from the area to make it come back and I am very, very happy with the results.” 

  • Details of Financial Support to Air Canada

    From: Department of Finance Canada | 12 April 2021

    Backgrounder

    The government’s financial support to Air Canada is being provided under the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF). The Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC) has committed to provide $4 billion in repayable loans and an equity investment in Air Canada of $500 million in newly-issued Class B Voting Shares at a 15 per cent discount to their recent trading price. CEEFC will also receive warrants on Air Canada stock in an amount equal to 10 per cent of the loan commitments (CEEFC’s news release contains detailed information regarding the warrants).

    As a condition of its agreement with CEEFC, Air Canada has made a number of commitments as outlined below.

    Refunds for Canadians

    The agreement with Air Canada ensures that customers who had their flights cancelled, or took action to cancel a flight because of the pandemic, are not financially disadvantaged. Under the terms of the financing agreement, Air Canada has committed to offer refunds to any passenger who wants a refund for certain pandemic-related cancelations by the carrier that CEEFC will finance. Air Canada has committed to providing customers with their refunds as soon as possible – beginning April 30, 2021 at the latest. CEEFC will provide additional loan financing of up to $1.4 billion for Air Canada to provide these refunds. Travel agents may assist in the processing of refunds for tickets the travel agents sold but will not be required to refund their commission to Air Canada.

    Protecting Jobs

    As a condition of the agreement with CEEFC, Air Canada has committed to maintain jobs at current levels, to respect collective bargaining agreements, and protect workers’ pensions. Air Canada currently has 14,859 active Canadian employees.

    As required more generally under LEEFF, Air Canada has also agreed to restrictions on dividends, buying back shares, and executive compensation. The company will also provide climate-related financial disclosures, including how its future operations will support environmental sustainability and national climate goals.

    Restarting Vital Domestic Air Services

    The terms of the financial support will ensure that Canadians and communities retain air connections to the rest of Canada, through the restart of service at airports temporarily suspended by Air Canada. For seven airports where Air Canada had permanently canceled service, the airline will seek interline agreements with other carriers with a view to ensure those Canadians continue to have convenient access to their preferred airports and the flights they need.

    Service will resume by no later than June 1, 2021, at the following suspended airports based on public health advice:

    • Bathurst
    • Comox
    • Fredericton
    • Gander
    • Goose Bay
    • Kamloops
    • North Bay
    • Penticton
    • Prince Rupert
    • Saint John
    • Sandspit
    • Sydney
    • Yellowknife

    Supporting Jobs in Canada’s Aerospace Industry

    The aerospace industry supported 235,000 Canadian jobs and contributed over $28 billion in gross domestic product to the Canadian economy in 2019.

    This financing agreement will allow Air Canada to continue to be a vital customer of the Canadian aerospace industry by completing its planned purchase of aircraft as set out in its business plan, which includes aircraft built in Canada, such as the Airbus A220. Aerospace is one of the most innovative and export-driven industries in Canada. The negative impact of the pandemic on the bottom line of airlines has put the relationship between airlines and the aerospace industry at risk, threatening job security in the sector. Ensuring that Air Canada maintains its status as a key customer of Canada’s aerospace industry is important to ensuring the long term success of the sector and the thousands of jobs it supports.

  • Jack Garland Airport running on fumes while seeking new partnerships

    From North Bay Today – link to source story

    ‘There have been some very detailed discussions with other airlines that could partner with Air Canada and Toronto Airport but they are looking for a stronger business economy to return as well

    ‘Feb 4, 2021 By: Chris Dawson

    20181129 jack garland airport terminal winter turlJack Garland Airport in North Bay. Jeff Turl/BayToday.

    Chris Mayne should know when he says it will take a year or two for things to get back to “normal” when it comes to the travel business. 

    Mayne owns a local travel agency and is a board member and city councillor on the North Bay Jack Garland Airport Board. 

    He says currently business is down about 90 per cent at Jack Garland Airport. That comes from Air Canada pulling out its regional flights from North Bay back in the early summer plus Sun Wing not renewing its contract to offer flights to the Dominican Republic and Cuba from the local airport.  

    “There is still some service coming out of the airport such as charters, leased aircraft, private operated but the airport is down significantly from its normal activity so without the passenger traffic we would normally get from Air Canada that has severely impacted revenues,” said Mayne. 

    Mayne notes the board is forecasting an $800,000 shortfall which he says will be supported by the City of North Bay through its budget. 

    “We are trying to minimize any operating costs that we can,” admitted Mayne. 

    “To keep the airport open you still have to plow the runways, keep the lights on. There are still minimum service levels that you have to maintain even though your business is down but we don’t want to close the airport because it would be a multi-year process to re-apply, re-certify, re-open the airport so we are still looking to see a return to service at some point in the next year or so.”  

    Mayne adds that the federal government has been trying to negotiate with airlines to bring back scheduled service to communities like North Bay but the numbers have to make sense.  

    “Air Canada, who was the original passenger service and even the newer operators like Bearskin or anyone who might step in to take over their service, what they are also looking for is the minimum level of passenger ridership and given the current COVID-19 conditions and most businesses are still very quiet – even for someone resuming service out of North Bay, right now it is unlikely the passenger volumes would be there to justify almost any level of service at this point,” said Mayne.  

    The board hopes within the next six to nine months those conditions will improve. 

    “The airport is certainly looking and would like to see Air Canada return to service but in the meantime, there have been some very detailed discussions with other airlines that could partner with Air Canada and Toronto Airport but they are looking for a stronger business economy to return as well,” said Mayne.