Let’s stop the airway robbers

In the South, we have a saying for a company that takes advantage of their customers and overprices their goods and services – we call them “highway robbers.”

Have you noticed the rising cost of goods and services provided by both of our airlines?

Today, I was quoted over $1,300 per person for travel from Iqaluit to Ottawa at the end of the month. I would like to know how the airlines justify these rate increases.

I can travel from Ottawa to Miami, Florida (the same distance as Ottawa to Iqaluit), spend three nights on a cruise ship in the Bahamas, dine 24-hours-a-day on five-star meals, and enjoy live Broadway productions for the same price. Something is terribly wrong with the mathematics!

Please explain to me the reason for the high cost of travel. Is it the “in-flight” meals? Then, eliminate them like every airline in the South.

Is it the free “Franklin Coffee?” Then drop it, most passengers don’t need the extra free alcohol anyway. I know that the fuel costs haven’t risen that much. It’s not the increased costs of security, because each passenger pays for airport security with the purchase of their ticket. If it’s increased maintenance costs, then it’s time to look at replacing those older aircraft.

I can guarantee, the owners of each of these airlines would think twice if they were forced to lay $3,000 on the table before they and their wife could get into the car, turn the key in the ignition and travel three hours down the road to visit with family. Maybe they should try this so that they can understand what it feels like.

I was advised by a bookstore in Alberta that they were charged $20 for postage to send a novel here to Iqaluit. Canada Post’s reason for this – increased freight rates.

We have been forced to stop sending Christmas and birthday packages to our children and grandchildren in the South because of the increased rates. Who can afford $6 per kilo which is often the rate after the package is cubed.

Have you noticed the increases at the grocery store? I almost fainted when I looked at the cost of a whole chicken recently. Where is this increase coming from – higher freight rates?

Yes, some of us live here by choice, and we could easily return to the South if we really wanted to, but what about those wo do not have that option? Let’s put affordable airfare back into the hands of the general public where it belongs.

Let’s stop the airway robbery!

Theresa Rodrigue
Iqaluit