A planned daily flight between Thunder Bay and Minneapolis won’t happen until at least next fall, says Bearskin Airline vice president Cliff Friesen.
The latest delay has nothing to do with approvals from south of the border, but instead a lack of aircraft to handle the passengers.
“We’ve had an equipment shortage,” Friesen said. “We’ve added some flights into Montreal out of Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa, so we haven’t been able to acquire any additional equipment. So we’ve had to delay it.
“We’re not sure when we’ll be getting enough equipment to be able to do that particular route.”
It’s not as simple as going out and buying a new plane, he added.
“You have to start it at the appropriate time when there is a fair amount of traffic. It’s delayed at this time indefinitely, but it certainly could be next fall when we start it up. That’s what we’re kind of shooting for.”
Bearskin won the right to the route in 2010, when Delta Airlines decided to abandon it. Delta officials said at the time that it did not see the Thunder Bay to Minneapolis route as cost-worthy.
Bearskin Airlines held the route in the mid-‘90s, and a year ago said they wanted to take over the Thunder Bay-Minneapolis flight on Oct. 10, 2010, the day Delta planned to stop flying.
The company quickly discovered there were plenty of legal hoops to jump through before the U.S. government gave its approval and the company was forced to delay plans for a year.
The 19-seat Metroliner aircraft is a hefty investment, Friesen said, and while consumers are finding lower fares, it means a lower profit margin for airlines have shrunk.
“That creates some challenge in the industry, not only for us, but for all of the carriers. As you’ve heard, some of the results that have come out for some of the larger carriers has not been all that positive,” Friesen said.
The delay is causing anxiety for potential customers, he added.
“There’s a lot of people that are inquiring about the flight, because it’s a very convenient flight. When you leave here and go over to Minneapolis you can virtually fly to any part of the U.S. and it’s a great convenience,” he said.
“There are many people that have called that I’ve spoken to personally and our people have spoken to. Certainly I’m very disappointed.”
