EDITORIAL – Kamloops will have to up its game to get new air service

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

‘I TOLD YOU SO’ isn’t something I take pleasure in saying, but earlier this year I wrote two editorials about not inflating our expectations over the announcement by Flair Airlines that it would fly between Kamloops and Edmonton.

Well, Flair has now confirmed it will cease flying that route after less than three months. Flair is a budget airline, relying on low fares to attract customers but needing full airplanes to be profitable. It was running at roughly 60 per cent capacity, which isn’t enough.

Kamloops simply doesn’t have the population to fill airplanes between here and Edmonton a couple of times a week, or any number of other routes. Many other budget airlines have discovered the same thing, even with smaller aircraft than the 737s Flair operates.

The mistake made by Coun. Bill Sarai and the Kamloops Airport Authority of which he’s chair was being overly optimistic, and maybe taking too much for granted. Sarai touted the new service as if it was the beginning of big things for the airport, as though other airlines would now be lining up to fly in and out of here.

He forgot the lessons of history — attracting new air service is tough slogging. Airlines either make a profit on a route or they go looking elsewhere.

Telling the media that people should embrace a new route and support it with their travel dollars isn’t nearly enough. Airlines are attracted by partnerships in which local councils and chambers of commerce provide extensive marketing to help fill seats. They’re convinced by pre-purchase campaigns that guarantee some upfront financial security and demonstrate the community’s confidence.

Otherwise, a new route is chancy. Maybe Flair will come back next year or the year after, and other airlines will probably try the Kamloops-Edmonton route again, or others.

But unless Kamloops can prove they want and need to get from a particular A to B, the airlines will simply fly away.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.