First Air defends its High Arctic cargo service

First Air says food shipments bound for Grise Fiord are arriving on time.

In other words, the airline can’t be blamed for a food shortage at the High Arctic community’s only store, as some media reports have suggested, said a Dec. 16 First Air news release.

“If the shelves are empty in Grise Fiord, it is not due to the airline service being provided,” said Chris Ferris, First Air’s vice-president of marketing and sales, in the news release.

First Air was responding to reports that emerged last week, which showed images of bare shelves in the community’s Arctic Co-op store and produce that had arrived there already in a rotten state.

First Air said all food shipments destined for Grise Fiord take one average seven days to travel from the South.

Perishable goods take about three days to get to the community, Nunavut’s most northerly, located about 3,400 kilometres from Ottawa.

Food bound for Grise Fiord leaves via First Air first from Ottawa to Resolute Bay, where it’s transferred to Kenn Borek Air Ltd. — the only airline that flies to Grise Fiord — for the final leg of the journey.

“First Air is committed to our 72-hour service standard for perishables,” Ferris said. “We recognize that we are an essential service and make every effort to ensure that vital community supplies are delivered on time.

Over the past six weeks, First Air said it has shipped over 3,200 kilograms of dry, frozen and perishable foods for both retail and personal orders in Grise Fiord. The most recent shipment left Iqaluit Dec. 16.

There is currently no food on hand in Ottawa or Iqaluit bound for Grise Fiord, the airline said.

Members of Grise Fiord’s co-op board were scheduled to meet with First Air officials Dec. 16.

(more to come)