Northern airline spreads its wings

Page 8

Clouds of dust and chunks of dirt filled the Arctic air as the 737 roared down the gravel airstrip. The Inuvialuit school children on board were excited about this special flight that would soar above the frozen Beaufort Sea and over their homes in Tuktoyaktuk.

They didn't care a wit that this flight was Canadian North's way of celebrating the signing of a 'strategic partnership' with Aklak Air, a subsidiary of the children's very own Inuvialuit Development Corporation; or that this agreement would extend Canadian's reach into the Western Arctic to the communities of Tuktoyaktuk, Sachs Harbour and Paulatuk, N.W.T.

They only knew the plane had brought a group of strangers to their remote community, and that for many this would be their first-ever journey on a jet.

However, that day, May 10, did mark the beginning of a new era of transportation into northern communities. The partnership better positions Aklak's year-round twin otter service to take control of a larger share of the tourist market, said IDC president David Connelly.

"There are a number of southern carriers that come up, don't offer a year-round service, don't offer a scheduled service, don't offer Inuvialuit job training, don't participate in the community, but come in during summer, because you can operate 24 hours a day, and take the peak of the market," said Connelly. The Aklak strategy is to reduce the number of interlopers into the market, he said.

Canadian North will fly into Inuvik each day and connect with Aklak, said Canadian's general manager Barry Rempel. Cargo on priority or guaranteed services, which often was delayed until connecting flights became available, will now move right through as well.

During the early 1980s, jet airplanes were a familiar sight over the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk. Canadian North's predecessor, PWA, serviced oil companies like Dome and Beaudrill and offered charges to Tuktoyaktuk about five times each week, said Rempel. But the engines that drove the economy in the Western arctic - oil, gas, the DEW line and cold war days of military defence - sputtered and stalled. Last year, the airline flew into the area only three times in total.

"The reality of doing business today, and I think part of the difference between success and failure, is saying 'okay, we're in a new time so we're going to have to do more with less'," said Connelly.

This new awareness held IDC in good stead in 1993, when the corporation returned to profitability for the first time since the heydays of the 1980s. The partnership between Canadian and IDC's Aklak Air is a testimony to that philosophy. Both have suffered through difficult financial times. Adversity, said Rempel, is the single most shared experience of both airlines.

"Both have spent a lot of time reviewing their structure, reviewing their business, reviewing their core and the foundation of why they are in business," he said.

Aklak Air was restructured in 1993 and showed its first profit since IDC acquired the airline in 1986. To achieve this turn around, surplus planes were sold and staff reduced. Operations at the Inuvik Airport were consolidated into a single facility. Staff wages were cut and a hanger facility was sold.

At Canadian, the airline has been in a state of voluntary bankruptcy for the past two years. On April 27, one-third of the equity in Canadian was turned over to AM Corp, the parent company of American Airlines. Canadian got a $246 million boost in the arm upon inking the deal.