By WOLF DEPNERWestern News StaffMar 23 2007 Penticton Western
Mayor Jake Kimberley said he still would like to see the city assume ownership of the Penticton Regional Airport, promising that it would “accommodate” the Penticton Indian Band. “I would invite them to participate in whatever avenue we take,” he said. But discussing joint ownership of the airport with the band would be “premature,” he added. Kimberley made that comment as an operational agreement for the airport is set to expire at the end of this month. Penticton is only one of two airports in Canada run by the federal government. The city and the federal government actually signed an agreement in 1998 to transfer the airport to the city, but outstanding land claim issues between the federal government and the Penticton Indian Band have so far delayed the transfer. While Kimberley is “fairly confident” that the federal government would extend the agreement, he also confirmed that he would push for the city to assume ownership of the airport in the event of a transfer.
Kimberley first raised that possibility during his successful campaign for mayor in 2005. This position earned him considerable criticism from his rivals, former mayors David Perry and Mike Pearce. But Kimberley has not wavered. With the investment the city has made in the South Okanagan Event Centre, it is “paramount” the airport stays open and grows. It is a “significant provider” of economic opportunity for the city and everybody else in the region, including PIB, he said. While Kimberley said he is aware of the “long and outstanding issues” surrounding the airport, everybody stands to lose if the airport struggles or worse. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip did not return calls seeking comment. This current discussion about ownership of the airport unfolds against on-going efforts to secure direct flights from and to Calgary.
Wayne Tebbutt, economic development officer for the city, suggested that city should consider subsidizing an airline to provide a direct Alberta connection. “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, adding WestJet raised that possibility during discussions with city officials. Jen Boyer, Horizon’s media relations manager, called Tebbutt’s comment “somewhat accurate.” “For our Kamloops service, we had what was called a revenue guarantee agreement, not a subsidy, and it was with Tourism Sun Peaks, not the City of Kamloops,” said Boyer. Under a revenue agreement, the other party agrees to pay the difference for every flight that fails to generate enough revenue to meet the cost of operating it throughout the length of the contract, she said. “Conversely, if we sold enough seats and made our margin or more on a flight, the other party (Tourism Sun Peaks) doesn’t pay anything for that flight.” Penticton city administrator Leo den Boer added that the City of Kamloops also bought three years worth of tickets in advance.
But he — like Kimberley — appeared cool toward the idea of subsidizing an airline. If council were to subsidize an airline, the city would violate the Community Charter section which in part states that “council must not provide a grant, benefit, advantage or other form of assistance to a business,” said den Boer. “I don’t believe that subsidizing business is a solution,” he said. “I feel we need to do a better job at convincing the travelling public that they should depart and return via our airport and not Kelowna. If everyone from the South Okanagan were to fly in and out of Penticton- the numbers will likely be substantially more, possibly to a point where it would warrant additional flights and destinations.” Tebbutt said during his presentation Monday that the city has hadn’t any “luck” so far in getting a comment from WestJet. But WestJet is not off the table yet, said Kimberley. “WestJet has not said necessarily outright,” he said. WestJet has so far not responded to questions about apparent discussions with city officials around subsidizes and any future possible commitment to Penticton.
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