First Air and Canadian North codeshare agreement ends today

The 2015 codeshare agreement between First Air and Canadian North ends today.

Last November, First Air gave notice it would be cancelling the agreement as of May 16, citing customer dissatisfaction with the arrangement.

• ​Canadian North calls First Air codeshare drop a 'sudden, unilateral' decision

• 'We're here to stay': Canadian North defends viability post-codeshare

• First Air, Canadian North to codeshare flights starting this summer

Dan Valin, manager of marketing and communication for First Air, told CBC the reasoning remains the same today as it did in November.

"Our customers had told us that they preferred the First Air service through and through," Valin said.  

When customers fly with First Air, he said, they want First Air planes, First Air service and First Air attendants for all legs of their booked travel.

The codeshare agreement between First Air and Canadian North was announced in May 2015. The agreement meant the two airlines would sell seats and cargo space on each other's scheduled flights.

The idea behind the agreement was to reduce costs for both airlines by reducing duplicate routes and flight times, leading to more fully booked flights and, according to the airlines, better scheduling.

High operating costs

At the time, Canadian North cited "extraordinarily high operating costs versus relatively low passenger and cargo volumes," combining to make unsustainable the scenario where two airlines serve a similar flight schedule.

"When we entered into this agreement it was a way to increase the sustainability of the operations that were in place, and still at the same time maintain that competitiveness that Northerners have become familiar with," said Peter McCart, senior vice president of scheduled services for Canadian North.

"We're still not 100 per cent sure why First Air decided to terminate the agreement. It was, from our perspective, working well and creating a sustainable situation for the operations across the North."

Post-codeshare schedule

As of Wednesday, Canadian North will go to a post-codeshare schedule which the airline has already been selling for the past few weeks. The schedule includes flights into Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq, and Pond Inlet as well as expanded service elsewhere, McCart said.

For its part, Valin said First Air would be ramping up service in the North, with increased service on its trans-territorial flight, more weekly flights to Pangnirtung and Resolute Bay, and a direct Yellowknife to Inuvik flight. ​

"We're not taking anything away from our customers," Valin said.

"We're trying to increase our service as much as we can to the destinations that they want to go to, based on market needs, and market feedback."

Valin said First Air is maintaining its codeshare agreement with Calm Air in the Kivalliq region. It will also continue to subcontract to Summit Air for its regularly scheduled trans-territorial flight.