By Mark BrettTuesday, March 20 Penticton Herald
The search and rescue mission to find a new direct airline carrier for the Penticton-Alberta connection may have hit some 
turbulence but hasn‘t been grounded. City economic development officer Wayne Tebbutt was at Monday‘s committee of the whole meeting of Penticton council seeking additional support in his ongoing quest. “As you may recall we went to visit WestJet in December – and the mayor was there by telephone – and had a discussion with that company but so far we haven‘t had any luck,” said Tebbutt. “So in the interim we‘re primarily focussing on what are known as the Tier Three companies, like Central Mountain Air and Pacific Coastal Airline but so far we have not been successful – we just haven‘t been able to convince anybody that it is a profitable route. “We‘re very regretful because that service is very much needed but unfortunately there are not enough carriers to service the regions and our proximity to Kelowna airport has always been a downfall.”
turbulence but hasn‘t been grounded. City economic development officer Wayne Tebbutt was at Monday‘s committee of the whole meeting of Penticton council seeking additional support in his ongoing quest. “As you may recall we went to visit WestJet in December – and the mayor was there by telephone – and had a discussion with that company but so far we haven‘t had any luck,” said Tebbutt. “So in the interim we‘re primarily focussing on what are known as the Tier Three companies, like Central Mountain Air and Pacific Coastal Airline but so far we have not been successful – we just haven‘t been able to convince anybody that it is a profitable route. “We‘re very regretful because that service is very much needed but unfortunately there are not enough carriers to service the regions and our proximity to Kelowna airport has always been a downfall.” WestJet currently flies direct between Kelowna and Alberta. According to Tebbutt Air Canada Jazz, until 2004, offered service to Alberta but then discontinued it. Prior to that the Penticton Airport handled about 85,000 passengers annually which at one point dropped as low 60,000 passengers. Tebbutt estimates the current number of people moving through the facility at about 70,000. At this stage he doesn‘t believe Transport Canada has any immediate plans to withdraw its service. In the spring of 2006 Calgary-based QuikAir began offering direct service which continued off an on until October when the airline was forced to shutdown as result of mounting debt. “It (Alberta service) was heavily supported last summer by people who used QuikAir,” said the economic development officer. “They went through long waiting periods and we were so surprised at how much people wanted that service that they put up with poor service but they were still there when the airplane was finally ready to go.”
The economic development officer asked for and received support from council in the form of a resolution and also suggested elected officials give some consideration to subsidization as a means of attracting a carrier. “It happens in other communities, when Horizon went into Kamloops they subsidized it heavily for their winter run so we could discuss it,” said Tebbutt. “When I asked WestJet if there is information they don‘t have they said no however they did say that if there‘s any information that comes forward with regard to subsidies in your community be sure to let us know, so they opened the door.” When asked after the meeting about the possibility of such a subsidy, council members were cautioned by city administrator Leo den Boer not to comment on the issue due to possible legal ramifications. Elected officials did agree to try getting written support from other south Okanagan communities to help Tebbutt with future efforts to secure a direct air link to Alberta.
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