Johnny Adams, the executive chair of First Air, doing PR work in the Kitikmeot region last October. Here, he stands with Susie Konana, an elder from Gjoa Haven, who won a flight certificate at the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s annual general meeting in Cambridge Bay. (File photo)
First Air now offers lower-cost Ilak fares to Kitikmeot Inuit
“This announcement has no implication with regards to the merger”
Inuit land claim beneficiaries living in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut are now eligible for First Air’s heavily discounted Ilak fares, the airline announced today.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean the Kitikmeot Inuit Association has agreed to invest in the new merged airline that First Air and Canadian North are now negotiating.
“This announcement has no implication with regards to the merger,” a First Air spokesperson told Nunatsiaq News on Tuesday, Feb. 12.
The idea isn’t new. Following a presentation last October from First Air’s executive chair, Johnny Adams, delegates attending the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s annual general meeting had voted to accept the Ilak fares, with a proposed start in early 2019.
When he spoke to KIA delegates, Adams described those fares as a “goodwill gesture.”
At the same time, Adams pitched a business partnership between First Air and the KIA, similar to a deal now under discussion with the Qikiqtaaluk Corp., the business arm of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
Last October, QC boss Harry Flaherty said the corporation was studying the possibility of investing in the proposed merger of First Air, owned by Makivik Corp., and Canadian North, owned by the Inuvialuit Development Corp.
First Air had launched the Ilak fare system in June 2018, but at that time, only Inuit beneficiaries in the Nunavik, Qikiqtaaluk and Kivalliq regions were eligible for it.
Despite the extension of Ilak to the Kitikmeot region, there’s no confirmation that any Nunavut Inuit birthright corporation has agreed to buy into the merged airline.
The heavily discounted Ilak fare offers tickets at prices reduced by about 60 per cent. Each Inuk beneficiary is eligible for up to three of those fares per year.
Last October, Adams said that under the Ilak discounts, a one-way ticket from Cambridge Bay to Yellowknife would fall to $388 from $1,300, and that the price of a one-way ticket to Edmonton would fall to $588 from about $1,600.
“This agreement is one that will truly benefit all our members. Flying through the region, or flying south to visit friends and family is an essential connection for our communities. This new program will allow for more affordable travel for our members,” Charlie Lyall, the vice-president of economic development at the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, said in a news release.
To book a flight with the Ilak fare, you have to phone First Air’s reservations line, the news release said.
First Air is owned by Makivik Corp., which represents the Inuit beneficiaries of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
Makivik’s proposed merger partner, the Inuvialuit Development Corp., is owned by the Inuvialuit of the Northwest Territories.
I hate race-based pricing. It’s just so wrong.
People get flown up to the Arctic from employers, then their room and board is covered while the locals are laid off during the winter months, meanwhile the people from the south get flown up and back 6 times a year, then they fly back down south to spend the thousands of dollars that were made in Nunavut. People who live and pay for food, heating fuel, power and plane tickets deserve a bit of a break.
So don’t hate.
It’s not “hate” to be against discrimination, it’s the opposite. You might want to look up the words you use, they actually do have meaning.
Buddy, there’s no need for you to hate is all I’m trying to state. Why in Nunavut does it always have to be about race?
If it’s people bashing Inuit, whites, blacks, orange, whatever your colour may be. There doesn’t need to be so much hate. One thing that is true, is that it can always go both ways, if you’re white and you can’t have it, there will definitely be stink about it. If you’re an Inuk and you don’t have what whites have then there will be a stink about it.
People just like to complain for any reason that isn’t benefitting to them.
But if you want to make it about a race based issue:
If it ain’t white, it ain’t right.
Right?
There’s a bigger issue behind all of this “hate” that would require deeper communication. But I won’t go there.
Have a great day,
P.S.- I for one, am very much looking forward to going on vacation and utilizing the Ilak fare with my family.
First Air and Canadian North are owned by Inuit owned birthright corporations. They are privately owned, not public. The beneficiaries are the shareholders and if they decide to give the shareholders reduced fares it is totally in their right to do so. Nothing to do with race.
Privilege or oppression based on birthright or ancestry is precisely what is racism.
Crystal Clarity, in the case of Nunavik beneficiaries of the Makivik Corporation, you are correct, because the Nunavut JBNQA beneficiaries are the owners of First Air. As owners, they have the proprietary right to reward themselves with cheaper airline tickets.
But your logic breaks down when you apply the same argument to Inuit anywhere in Nunavut including Kitikmeot, because in their case, your argument is based on a false premise.
The Inuit of Kitikmeot are not owners of First Air, the Inuit of Kivalliq are not owners of First Air and the Inuit of Qikiqtaaluk are not owners of First Air. So in the case of Nunavut, it is a pricing system that is based on racial preference and nothing else.
IMHO it looks like a crude ploy that is intended to sucker the Kitikmeot Inuit Association into putting money into the new monopoly airline. Given the low quality of people on their board, it just might work. Like P.T. Barnum said, there’s one born every minute.
Wow,
From the same Island that Cambridge Bay flys off, on the other side, you can pay this….instead;
Holman Island (Ulukhaktok) to Yellowknife “SAVER PLAN”not
First Air rate….wait for ittt.
$CAD 4,281.90 return or Super Flex $CAD 5,365.50
Edmonton to London UK all inclusive 7 days trip for 1 person is…….C$4,344.65
Can someone tell me whats wrong with this picture? First air?
damn John Wow, I know that is brutal!
I just spoke with First Air and they advised me that it would be $1107 from Cambridge Bay to Edmonton return.
I checked the Bear Fares/Pivut Fares on Canadian North and they were $1595 return to Edmonton.
Looks like the cost from YHI to YCB is $4922.00
But YHI to Edmonton is $4802 weird ah!!
YHI to YZF is 1.5 hours where YHI to YEG is just another 1.5
So they are charging 4300 from Holman to Yellowknife then
500 bucks from Yellowknife to Edmonton, why not 500 between YHI and YZF aswell?
First air???