Beggars can’t be choosers.

Oct 27 2006 EDITORIAL http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/
That is the situation facing Penticton after QuikAir flew off into the sunset less than six months after it touched down in Penticton. High hopes and predictions of immediate success greeted its arrival. Economic development officer Wayne Tebbutt among others predicted the airline would do well soon, based on the growing economic ties between this region and Alberta. We now know otherwise. Red flags, in hindsight, should have gone up when the airline had to cancel its inaugural Calgary-Penticton flight because it lacked bookings. The ups and downs of any company are, of course, outside the control of city leaders. But consider how they are reacting to it. They, it appears, want us to forget about this unfortunate development as soon as possible by stressing their current search for another airline to replace QuikAir. The potential candidates are of comparable size to QuikAir. Although we are not suggesting that the company eventually chosen will suffer the same fate as QuikAir. That would be presumptuous. But the fact that the city is trolling in the same pool that netted QuikAir is telling in many ways and we fear that the QuikAir fiasco could push the airport’s reputation into a nosedive, if it has not already. Several other developments — plans for a national park and ongoing land claims by the Penticton Indian Band — are already casting doubts about the airport’s viability threatened by a large regional airport with international connections little more than an hour away. So what are the options? Few to none. We predict that the city — facing pressure from the business community — will do whatever it can to land an airline willing to take a flyer on the economic trends currently shaping the South Okanagan. But this something-is-better-than-nothing attitude is exactly the wrong approach for creating some stability at the airport. If the city is serious about the long-term future, it will not just settle for any airline. It should instead develop a long-term strategy that first identifies the airport’s weaknesses, then fixes them with the participation of all the stake-holders to find the perfect fit for the city and the region. Desperate times may demand desperate measures, but these are not desperate times. The airport was humming along before QuikAir and we predict it will continue to — at least for a while — after its end. The airport may feel jilted by QuikAir. But another, potentially ill-fated, one-night fling will not soothe those feelings the morning after.