Canadian North, First Air beef up western Nunavut routes

Beginning Nov.2, Canadian North and First Air will add flights between the communities of Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay, the two airlines said Oct. 30. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavut’s major airlines are responding to customer complaints this week by adding extra flights in the Kitikmeot region.

Starting today, Nov. 2, Canadian North and First Air — which together serve western Nunavut through a code share agreement put in place last summer — will add flights between Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay, the two airlines said Oct. 30.

Customers will be able to travel between Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay three days a week in each direction, up from one day a week in each direction.

Westbound customers can now fly from Cambridge Bay Mondays and Fridays on a Canadian North-owned Dash-8, and again on Sundays on a First Air ATR 42.

And eastbound customers can fly from Kugluktuk Tuesdays and Sundays on a First Air ATR 42, and on Fridays on a Canadian North’s Boeing 737.

“With this schedule change, we’re pleased to offer more choice, better connections and improved service in the Kitikmeot,” Bert van der Stege, a First Air vice president, said in the Oct. 30 release.

“We’ve always said that if the market requires capacity adjustments, we will gladly do so as long as it’s economically viable.”

After failed merger talks between the two airlines in 2014, First Air and Canadian North teamed up with Calm Air to roll out a code share agreement across the territory last summer.

But while the airlines promised better flexibility for flyers, customers across the North have said the new agreement offers the opposite.

Delegates at recent Kitikmeot Inuit Association meetings complained to airline executives that the code share agreement has produced expensive delays and layovers on flights that are now often full to capacity.

And the flight schedule has hampered the delivery of health care across the territory, delaying medical travel and the shipping of lab samples and medication.

The Government of Nunavut and the City of Iqaluit recently filed complaints with the Competition Bureau, which has since launched a review of the new code share agreement.

Meanwhile, First Air and Canadian North said they continue to assess their schedules to tweak routes based on customer demand.

“In response to the input of our customers and stakeholders, as well as the opportunities created by the code share agreement, we have been able to make significant schedule enhancements which will promote cargo and passenger service between Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay,” said Peter McCart, Canadian North’s senior vice-president of scheduled services.

McCart said the airlines welcome further dialogue with stakeholders.