Pangnirtung pilot lands at home for the first time

When Joseph Akulujuk landed in Pangnirtung and taxied his plane toward the airport, he could see it: the inside and outside of the building was packed with people cheering for him.

“I was told a lot of people were coming to the airport, but I didn’t realize how many there were actually going to be there,” Akulujuk said.

“It was a dream come true.”

Akulujuk, 24, is a pilot with the rank of first officer with Canadian North. May 18 marked the first time he had the chance to land a plane in his home community.

Canadian North celebrated the milestone that day with a post on its Facebook and Instagram pages about Akulujuk’s achievement.

The young pilot told Nunatsiaq News his interest in flying stems from watching airplanes fly in and out of Pangnirtung when he was growing up.

“There was nothing else like it,” he said.

Akulujuk started training to become a pilot at the First Nations Technical Institute in Deseronto, Ont., in 2018.

It was a challenging road. He pursued his studies during the COVID-19 pandemic and faced further delays when his school’s hangar burned down in 2022, destroying the planes inside.

He ended up graduating in 2023.

“We all pulled through and believed in ourselves,” Akulujuk said.

Now, he says his dream is to become a captain and fly Canadian North’s Boeing 737 airplanes, the biggest aircraft the company has in its fleet.

Akulujuk said he also hopes his accomplishment will motivate others in Nunavut to chase their goals.

“They can achieve their dreams, and I hope they pursue aviation,” he said.