First Air doing its best to maintain flight schedules: Aatami

This First Air ATR, shown here at the Iqaluit airport, is the aircraft Makivik Corp.-owned First Air generally flies into Resolute Bay. (FILE PHOTO)

The day after First Air flight 6560 crashed in Resolute Bay, Pita Aatami, Makivik Corp. president and chairman of First Air’s board of directors, did what many dreaded to do that day: he boarded an aircraft.

Aatami and other officials from Makivik, the birthright organization for Nunavik Inuit that owns First Air, flew to Resolute Bay Aug. 21 to tour the grieving community and meet with community members.

“It’s very hard,” Aatami said. “Everybody’s saddened by this.”

Aatami described the death of eight passengers and four crew members as like “losing a part of our family.”

But he said “we have no choice but to use airlines in the North. We rely on them for our travel.”

Aatami dismissed any concerns about the safety of First Air’s fleet, saying the airline — like any other in the country — follows strict Transport Canada guidelines, while aircraft and crew are well-versed in northern travel.

“It’s a very strict industry,” he said. “I’m still flying today. I don’t feel unsafe.”

Aatami called the Aug. 20 crash an “unforeseen accident.”

Aatami said that First Air is doing its best to maintain scheduled service across the North, although the airline’s focus is on the community of Resolute Bay and providing support to family of the victims.

“Our priority is to look after the people impacted by this,” he said. “We have one less airplane and we’ll figure that out after we get through this.”

First Air owned a fleet of six Boeing 737s – now five – the majority of them “combis” designed to carry both freight and passengers.

In an Aug. 21 press conference, First Air president Scott Bateman encouraged passengers to contact the First Air reservations office to confirm “that their flight is in fact going.”

The airline services more than 225,000 passengers and about 25 million kilograms of cargo every year.

Makivik purchased First Air in 1990.