Regional flights: Justin Trudeau is disappointed with the decision of Air Canada [VIDEO]

The prime minister Justin Trudeau has visited the food bank, Moisson Outaouais, Friday morning.

3 July 2020 14: 24

Regional flights: Justin Trudeau is disappointed with the decision of Air Canada [VIDEO]

Julien Arsenault

The canadian Press

Catherine Lévesque

The canadian Press

OTTAWA – The prime minister Justin Trudeau admits three days later that he was disappointed in the decision of Air Canada to abandon a thirty destinations in the country. At the same time, it is relying on the airline to continue to serve the areas once the economy allows.

“You know that Air Canada is taking advantage of the most profitable in the country, but it is also expected that they serve the people who live in more remote areas. So, this is something that we hope they will be able to (be) put to serve these sectors, these areas as the economy begins to recover”, he said in the sideline of his visit to the food bank, Moisson Outaouais, Friday morning.

Mr. Trudeau, however, has not yielded solutions to the concrete and is not pronounced, either, about the idea mooted by the government Legault to set up its own airline to serve the regions of Quebec, abandoned by Air Canada.

“I think that (…) we are going to have to adjust our ways of doing things because of the current crisis, but also for the future. There are things that will change and we will work with other levels of government, with industries, including the airline industry, to see how we can fill the immediate needs, but how we are going to have a country more resilient, stronger and more just in the years to come,” he hinted during the press conference.

Air Canada announced Tuesday the indefinite suspension of 30 regional service interior and the closure of eight stopovers at regional airports across canada, including four in Quebec. The carrier has in particular referred to the”devastating impact” of the health crisis on its activities.

Nevertheless, this decision has been condemned by economic and political actors, all levels combined), and force the prime contractors to focus on the future of regional air transport.

A “crisis cell” has been established Thursday by the Alliance of the tourism industry in Québec (AITQ), the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ), the quebec Network of airports (RQA) and the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ). It will meet several times over the next few weeks to meet with the air carriers serving already the regions, and to evaluate different business models.

In an interview with The canadian Press, Isabelle Dostaler, dean of the faculty of management, Memorial University of Newfoundland and an expert on aeronautics and air transport, proposed the idea that smaller carriers could expand to serve more remote areas.

“Is this what it is going towards a model where Air Canada takes care of the international transport? Why we would not establish a State enterprise which would carry the passengers to canadians in areas where there would be an arrangement with Air Canada for the total price of a trip from Seven Islands to China (with a stopover via Montreal) to be the same as before?” inquired she.

However, maintaining a level of air service appropriate to happen obligatorily through financial contribution of the governments?

“Is it that you want only to urban centres, or one wants to maintain of the regions, will enable them to flourish and exist? Is it that we want to occupy the territory? If one wants it, it is sure that there is a share of the money from the State, which must go to help. We must not forget the concept of a fair price. It is sure that it can’t be free. It is sure that remoteness has a cost and the question to ask is: who should bear this cost? This can not only be the taxpayers,” argued Ms. Dostaler.

The group’s director of studies in management of enterprises in the aeronautics industry, UQAM, Mehran Ebrahimi, is of the opinion that public money should be used to maintain the infrastructure to maintain an economic activity, which, in turn, will be able to return to the regions. He wondered who, in fact, could make money where the population density is low.

“It is necessary that the public money is there in the same way as public money is there to keep the Montreal metro. Otherwise we have to say our goodbyes and say that we will not have regional development”, explains Mr Ebrahimi.

Media to Justin Trudeau on July 3

CPAC

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