'Grim news' for North Bay's Jack Garland Airport as Air Canada cancels service
CBC News | Posted: June 30, 2020 10:16 PM | Last Updated: June 30, 2020
Air Canada makes sudden announcement today, leaving regional airports with questions
Chris Mayne, a North Bay city councillor, says today's Air Canada announcement is "grim news" for small airports across the country.
The company announced it is indefinitely suspending 30 domestic regional routes and closing eight stations at regional airports across Canada because of an unprecedented drop in demand for air travel as a result of COVID-19.
Mayne, who also sits on the board for the Jack Garland Airport, says Air Canada provided about 80 per cent of revenue for the facility.
"It would be a significant loss for the city of North Bay, if we're unable to keep that airport open," Mayne says.
"One of the questions we're trying to find out from Air Canada, is there any date that they can give us where they might be resuming service so we could work toward that from a budget sense," Mayne says.
He says the city has committed funding to cover salaries and operational costs to the amount of $200,000 a month until the end of December.
Mayne says it would be difficult to maintain such a significant source of funding indefinitely. The pressure would mean the airport may shut down which could have a dramatic impact on North Bay's economy.
"If we had to look at closing the airport, certainly it's a loss of business service..all the connections domestically and internationally that a lot of businesses depend on," Mayne says.
No other routes or stations in northern Ontario are affected, but Air Canada says it is looking at further service suspensions.