City of Penticton not happy with loss of some Air Canada flights to and from Vancouver

PENTICTON – The City appreciates Air Canada’s recent announcement that will see new Bombardier Q-400 aircraft used on the Penticton to Vancouver run, but they aren’t too pleased at the loss of morning and late night flights to the Lower Mainland.

Director of development services Anthony Haddad updated council members at the regular council meeting today, March 5, on scheduling changes being made by Air Canada that take effective on May 1. On Feb. 14, Air Canada announced it would be increasing capacity on several of its western routes by using the new Bombardier Q-400 planes. 

“It’s excellent news the airline has chosen to upgrade the planes on the Vancouver route which will greatly increase the landing and takeoff rates within low cloud periods in Penticton,” Haddad said, adding the planes can also carry more passengers.

He said some of the timetable changes enhanced scheduling with Vancouver connections, but the loss of the early morning flight out of Penticton and the late evening flight back to the city was inconvenient for residents using the airline as a daily commuter service to Vancouver.

Coun. Judy Sentes asked Haddad to ensure Air Canada understood the loss of the daily flights could ultimately have a negative impact on passenger loads because of the inconvenience of the new schedule, while Mayor John Vassilaki said he was scheduling a meeting with Air Canada officials hopefully for next week.

The city’s economic development office is working with communications staff to create an online survey to collect information on Penticton travel patterns and the impact of the loss of the 6 a.m. departure to Vancouver and 11 p.m. arrival from Vancouver will have. The information will be provided to air carriers to help them understand Penticton resident's travel needs.

The survey is expected to get underway next week.

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