A petition to maintain Air Canada service between Cranbrook and Calgary has the support from Kootenay – Columbia MP Wayne Stetski.
He says he shares the concerns raised by Cranbrook local, William McKerrow, in response to Air Canada’s announcement last month that Air Canada would stop offering the route after April 29, 2019. More details of the announcement may be found here.
“I’m in Ottawa six months of the year,” Stetski explains. “I try and come home the majority of the weekends and every Air Canada flight that I’ve been on between Cranbrook and Calgary has been full. There are four flights a day so, you know, do the math.”
Roughly 69,000 passengers used the service shared between Air Canada and WestJet in 2018 according to Stetski.
The purpose of the petition is to sway Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau to ask Air Canada to utilize at least one of their larger 48 passenger planes for the route.
“Air Canada is supposed to be our national airline and it make no sense for any of us to have to go to the Cranbrook airport, fly an hour and a half west to then get on a flight to go east.”
He says he’s concerned about how the gap in service will affect tourism, community isolation and health for those who need access to enhanced medical facilities.
Steski also said in a media release on April 9, “It is important to maintain transportation options in the region, particularly since we’re still facing gaps from the departure of Greyhound bus service in 2018.”
The electronic petition is open to signatures until May 9, 2019 at https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2124
The paper petition can be signed at MP Stetski’s Cranbrook constituency office until May 9th, 2019 and extra copies can be obtained by contacting the office. The petition will be presented in the House of Commons in May.