Saving the 6 a.m. flight

Long before the sun rose Thursday morning, a group of politicians was at the Penticton Airport as part of a demonstration to show Air Canada how important the soon-to-be-cut 6 a.m. flight to Vancouver is to vacationers and business travellers alike. 

Air Canada announced recently that its 6 a.m. departure and 11:50 p.m. arrival flights to and from Vancouver would be axed May 1, in favour of larger planes with more seats on their other routes. 

South Okanagan-West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings has been spearheading the movement, and he spent the morning Thursday passing out fliers for the online airport survey and talking to passengers heading onto the 6 a.m. flight. '

"This is a critical change," Cannings said, explaining people who travel for business especially will now be looking at a one-day trip stretching out into two with a potentially expensive overnight stay. "We're worried about the impact that will have on the local business community, and people making connections for vacations."

Many people had already heard and completed the survey, voicing their disapproval that the flight has been axed. 

"We're going to New Brunswick, we go a lot, it's the only flight out that we can actually get there in one day without an expensive layover somewhere," said one woman. 

"We're improving, expanding out airport," another man said, gesturing to the construction behind him. "I don't see why we're losing our six o'clock flight in the morning, it's really one of the most important ones I think."

A steady stream of passengers poured in over the hour before the flight, testament to its popularity. Cannings said he flies the route himself frequently on his way to and from work in Ottawa, and finds it is frequently full. 

"You know, it is a business decision for Air Canada, and we're trying to point out that this will affect their business," Cannings said. 

He said any of the other routes would be a better option to cancel, since the early flight is so key to people making connections. Without it, he says, more people will end up driving to Kelowna for morning flights, rather than taking one of the later Penticton flights which don't fit with their scheduling. 

Penticton's mayor John Vassilaki agreed, showing up to support the demonstration and stressing that losing the early flight with late return combo will have an isolating effect on the region.

"Not only for the local folks that use the airline, but tourism, it's very, very important for our economy, we can't lose those two flights," Vassilaki said. "If people can't catch a connecting flight to Penticton then they have to stay overnight in Vancouver, and the costs are overwhelming."

Vassilaki and Cannings were also joined by Summerland mayor Toni Boot and Jennifer Vincent, City of Penticton economic development specialist, who said response to the online survey has already been overwhelming. 

"The survey's been open for probably about ten days now, and we've got about 1,700 results so a strong result to begin with and we're hoping for a lot more before it closes next week," Vincent said. "The numbers came in pretty quickly early on, so it sounds like people are pretty enthusiastic about giving us their thoughts on this."

Cannings said many travellers he has spoken to since the announcement were dismayed at the news. He brought the issue up recently in Ottawa at a meeting with WestJet executives, hoping that the direct competitors might see a business opportunity. 

"But right now it seems they have other priorities unfortunately, I was hoping they would jump at it and fill in the breach," Cannings said. 

He will present the findings of the local online survey to Air Canada once the feedback period closes on April 6. To have your say, click here.