I remember having to fly through YHM en route to YHZ as recently as fall 2009. That was the last time I flew through YHM... I think WS "de-hubbed" it around that time.

[QUOTE=thenoflyzone;9459449].....

Also, in unrelated news, AC is fined $4.5 million by US DOT for delays in giving out refunds on flights to/from the United States during the pandemic.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...ates-1.6258394

Disappointing that it has taken this long. Punishment for airlines when they do things that are unethical should swift, public and immediate. They should be fined and shamed into proper behaviour.

Has WestJet and Swoop been fined yet?

LOL. Funny thing is I don't remember what I had for lunch yesterday either.

As for Flair, was that 11 pax count on the inaugural outbound or the inbound? If it's the latter, that's to be expected. The F8 FLL-YOW inaugural on Oct. 31st had only 20 pax on it, while the outbound had about 115. Back in my airline days, even the inaugural of winter seasonal routes each season was usually a dog with loads under 50%, but by the next flight or the following week loads would be up substantially and by the 3rd flight or week, flights would be in the mid to high 80s.

Some of my most memorable flights have been out of YHM.

Well, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at YHM.

Maybe one day I'll actually go inside the terminal.

Air Transat (TS) Summer 2022 schedules is now out.

The only 4 routes in Western Canada they plan on flying ✈️ and operating to is:
Vancouver- Toronto
Vancouver-Montreal
Calgary-Toronto
Calgary-Montreal

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/simplefl...mmer-2022/amp/

With the WS codeshare, I can see them canceling those routes and using those A321s for more European flights instead. Unless there is a signifiant O&D component they are after, in which case they’ll keep them.

AC are working with Jazz to temporarily convert a DH4 to help move goods around BC.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...815745990.html

Air North gonna fly Toronto to Whitehorse & Yellowknife

Here’s the article link: https://canadianaviationnews.wordpre...ronto-ontario/

Pacific Coastal has applied to operate flights to the US for WS Link
https://www.regulations.gov/document...2021-0150-0001

Specifically mentions YYC/YVR-GEG.

I used to fly Calgary-Spokane in the early 90s on United.

Not Canadian but it's good news for aviation in general. The US is almost back to its pre-pandemic levels when it comes to air travel. The remaining 10% is going to be the hardest to get.

U.S. screened highest number of air passengers since start of pandemic

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/20/busin...tsa/index.html

Wow look at that. Toronto connected to north of 60 for the first time. Will complement their service to Ottawa, the first of which since pre-pandemic will be a couple of XMAS holiday trips.

In Northern Ontario news, Sunwing are not going to operate to YSB, YAM & YYB blaming the uncertainty as to when those airports will be able to handle international flights again.

https://canadianaviationnews.wordpre...ult-ste-marie/

Unfortunately the Canadian aviation market is nothing like the American one. Neither by size, nor scope.

2018 BTS T-100 data shows that out of 1.01 billion passenger that travelled in the United states that year (all carriers, foreign and domestic, combined), over 777 million were on domestic flights. That's 77% domestic, 23% international.

https://www.bts.dot.gov/newsroom/201...nes-us-flights

In Canada, the same year, out of a total of 160.6 million passengers, only 93 million were domestic. That's 58% domestic, 42% international.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/...020005-eng.htm

So first and foremost, size. 777 million domestic vs 93 million domestic. And second, scope. the domestic/international ratio. Canadians rely far greater on international travel than the US market. At an airport like YUL, it's over 60% international passengers.

This explains why YYC's recovery post pandemic has been the fastest among Canada's major airports. Their passengers are mostly on domestic flights (~70%), just like most US airports. Whereas YYZ, YVR and YUL, where the passenger counts have a significant international component, will struggle until all foreign travel restrictions are lifted. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon, with this Omicron variant now gaining ground, meaning more restrictions coming....

I'd be curious about how much international travel is from the US to Canada. How much intercontinental travel difference there is between the two countries is another interesting question.

However, as you mention, the dynamics of the Canadian domestic air market are quite different.

For the domestic travel market, we're a highly seasonal and highly regional country. Domestic demand spikes in the summer and aside from Christmas, flatlines over the rest of the year. The bulk of our air travel takes place between 4 major clusters: Southern Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Lower Mainland BC. Within those regions, travel is mostly by other means. The only two regions with significant overlap in mode of transportation are Southern Ontario and Quebec.

A lot of our international travel is US/sun based. Internationally, our demand shifts from sun destinations in winter to Europe in the summer.

According to this excellent video, Canadian North are now down to their last 737-200 combi. It's apparently now scheduled for retirement by the end of 2022. Their 2nd last 732C was transferred recently to sister company Air Inuit augmenting that airline's 732C fleet to 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVGFtPkKW0I

Look at the teeny hairdryers (JT8Ds) on the 737-200.

For an aircraft that not too long ago was a workhorse of the sky in Canada, (Westjet, Canadian/AC, various northern operators), they're becoming quite the rare breed.

It's just Air Inuit, Nolinor and Glencore left in Canada, I think. I'm curious what will eventually be a replacement for gravel runway operations in the future.

Another way to put this, Air North moves 2 of the 3 weekly Ontario flights from YOW to YYZ.

I don't know if you can look at it entirely that way as summer 2019 4N only flew YOW-YZF-YXY 2x weekly. It's more I think a case of a gradual return to service for the former route.

For a good decade past the YHM dehubbing, WS on a summer-seasonal basis had YEG & YWG come in from the west & head east to YQM and YHZ with YHM connections still available...plus the year-round YYC flight was timed for connections too.