Perimeter Aviation ending air service to three Northwestern Ontario communities

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This article was published 17/01/2024 (622 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Perimeter Aviation is cancelling air service to three Northwestern Ontario communities in May because of low passenger demand.

Perimeter’s eastern airline subsidiary Bearskin Airlines has been flying into Kenora, Dryden and Fort Frances, Ont., for about 20 years but passengers did not return in great enough numbers after the pandemic to sustain the route.

Joey Petrisor, CEO of Perimeter, said the airline did not take the decision lightly.

“We have been servicing these communities for a long time, we have long-term employees in those market,” he said. “It was a tough decision.”

But he said the route — Thunder Bay-to-Dryden-to-Kenora-to Thunder Bay — was averaging only two passengers for some time.

“We were hoping it was going to recover but it just hasn’t. The pandemic just decimated it,” he said.

The route flew Fairchild Metroliners, a plane that seats 19 passengers.

“At a five per cent load factor it makes it very challenging,” he said.

Not surprising the news hit hard in the communities affected.

Andrew Hallikas, the mayor of Fort Frances, a border town with a population of about 7,500, said it was a big deal for the community and “deeply concerning” for him as mayor. The Rainy River district has another 3,500 people who rely on services in Fort Frances.

“We knew that ridership was down and Perimeter is saying that it was a business decision and I can certainly understand that,” he said. “But this was a strategic service for our community.”

For instance, he said that Fort Frances has a 24-hour emergency department at its hospital and it relies on physicians coming in to work on temporary locums.

“Their mode of transportation to get here is to fly in. This will have potentially dire consequences in keeping our emergency room operating,” he said.

It’s a four hour drive from Fort Frances to Thunder Bay and a similar length road trip from Dryden as well.

The only other public transportation is a bus route, which is circuitous and long.

Jack Harrison, the mayor of Dryden, which also has a population of about 7,500, said the news was disheartening.

He believes some of the reason for the passenger drop-off was the price of a fare. A one-way trip from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg is about $1,200.

He said that with the advent of the use of online communication tools like TEAMS and Zoom cut down on air travel.

“We did see a decline in passengers after COVID and we were trying to work with the airport manager to increase ridership and we were canvassing folks this past fall,” he said. “We were just working on this when we go the announcement.”

He said it “sets us back” but he said the three communities are trying to find another carrier to work with.

“But it seems like competition is pretty slim,” he said.

Petrisor said the airline has received some communication from Kenora to see if it could be included on Bearskin’s route from Winnipeg-to-Red Lake-to-Sioux Lookout-to-Thunder Bay.

“It’s not a hard “no” but right now I don’t see a way to do it,” Petrisor said.

Scheduling for pilots makes it very difficult he said.

Andrew Poirier, the mayor of Kenora, was unavailable for comment.

Dryden Mayor Harrison said the community is hopeful that a planned gold mine in the region is given the green light for 2025.

“That would change the situation for us,” he said.

The mine would be just 20 kilometres outside Dryden and he said the company, Treasury Metals, has already made it clear it did not intend to build a residence for workers, so there would be commuting into the town, a bump in population and likely much more traffic in and out requiring air service.

“That might change our fortunes,” he said.

Bearskin Airlines and Perimeter Aviation are owned by Exchange Income Corp. of Winnipeg, which also owns Calm Air and Keewatin Air and other regional airlines.

Airlines are required to inform communities 120 days before they intend to cancel service.

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