Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport

[plrh]

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bu...570645202.html

Confirms what was stated earlier. PPE flights from Tianjin via Madrid. Planes were converted from passenger to all cargo. The article says A340-600 but the schedule i posted was of an A340-300, which is a little smaller (for those who pick nits).

[esquire]

I hear that Swoop has pulled out of Winnipeg for now.

[Rogie]

Originally Posted by esquire

I hear that Swoop has pulled out of Winnipeg for now.

Yes, at least for the summer schedule.

[Authentic_City]

According to the above (and the link below), it looks like Flair will maintain four flights a week in Winnipeg -- to Toronto and Calgary.

https://westernaviationnews.com/2020...ern-expansion/

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by esquire

I hear that Swoop has pulled out of Winnipeg for now.

Isn't that a good thing in that it means WestJet would be keeping mainline service?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Isn't that a good thing in that it means WestJet would be keeping mainline service?

It's hard to imagine WS surrendering YWG to AC unless it was at risk of going under completely.

[kattiff]

So sad news for Ottawa Saskatoon and Edmonton.... Delta is ending service to those cities. Question is will Delta continue flying to Winnipeg, does our location being so close to Minneapolis help? Or due to covid and the potential JV with WestJet is it going to close Winnipeg too and have WestJet do all the work - Delta fly into Calgary, Toronto and connect with WestJet all over. Maybe Encore takes over the YWG MSP Route. Or Delta just stays with one flight for a very long time at YWG. Thoughts??

[esquire]

Originally Posted by kattiff

So sad news for Ottawa Saskatoon and Edmonton.... Delta is ending service to those cities. Question is will Delta continue flying to Winnipeg, does our location being so close to Minneapolis help? Or due to covid and the potential JV with WestJet is it going to close Winnipeg too and have WestJet do all the work - Delta fly into Calgary, Toronto and connect with WestJet all over. Maybe Encore takes over the YWG MSP Route. Or Delta just stays with one flight for a very long time at YWG. Thoughts??

Normally I wouldn't care that much about an airline's route but there is a certain historic sentimentality with DL's YWG-MSP route. Delta and its predecessor Northwest have been operating it continuously since 1928... it was Northwest's first international route. It would be sad if that ended now.

There is some cause for optimism in this instance. DL kept running the route during some of the darkest days of Covid… there were some days where YWG-MSP was one of a dozen or fewer flights departing from the airport on some days in April and May. So if they've made it this far, maybe they'll keep on going?

[CoryB]

There is definitely reason for DL to keep YWG-MSP, MSP is the closest international hub to YWG. Ending service means DL would definitely lose out on passenger volume. I am not sure how high that volume is but it definitely exists. When I returned from Europe two years back the routing was CDG-MSP-YWG. If the DL flight isn't there we aren't on the DL flight from CDG-MSP either.

[kattiff]

Originally Posted by esquire

Normally I wouldn't care that much about an airline's route but there is a certain historic sentimentality with DL's YWG-MSP route. Delta and its predecessor Northwest have been operating it continuously since 1928... it was Northwest's first international route. It would be sad if that ended now.

There is some cause for optimism in this instance. DL kept running the route during some of the darkest days of Covid… there were some days where YWG-MSP was one of a dozen or fewer flights departing from the airport on some days in April and May. So if they've made it this far, maybe they'll keep on going?

Don’t mean to be that person but actually they did suspense service during the dark time of COVID. They ended it April 7 and only restarted like May 18th. To 4 times a week and Now up daily but their numbers are just average of 10 I’m told. Hopefully they can keep it up with daily service.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by kattiff

Don’t mean to be that person but actually they did suspense service during the dark time of COVID. They ended it April 7 and only restarted like May 18th. To 4 times a week and Now up daily but their numbers are just average of 10 I’m told. Hopefully they can keep it up with daily service.

Note I said "some of", not "all of" the darkest days of Covid

The point is that YWG-MSP was one of the last routes to stop operating here and one of the first to restart. So that does speak to some level of willingness to keep operating the route.

[buzzg]

I think it has a ton of value to Delta in general, as was mentioned many international flights from YWG go to MSP instead of YYZ or YUL. I think one challenge could definitely be how long the border stays closed to non-essential travel.

I'm 28 and personally fiercely in the camp that it should stay closed until the US has COVID under control, even if that's in 2021. I have lots of friends in the US but have no interest in going anytime soon. It's become clear that we can operate pretty functionally and with some semblance of normalcy in Winnipeg/MB if we limit the amount of people coming in and out of the province, so why risk that. I'd happily keep the borders closed if it means everyone can live a somewhat normal life here.

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by buzzg

I think it has a ton of value to Delta in general, as was mentioned many international flights from YWG go to MSP instead of YYZ or YUL. I think one challenge could definitely be how long the border stays closed to non-essential travel.

I'm 28 and personally fiercely in the camp that it should stay closed until the US has COVID under control, even if that's in 2021. I have lots of friends in the US but have no interest in going anytime soon. It's become clear that we can operate pretty functionally and with some semblance of normalcy in Winnipeg/MB if we limit the amount of people coming in and out of the province, so why risk that. I'd happily keep the borders closed if it means everyone can live a somewhat normal life here.

I totally agree with your post. I have zero interest in going to the US right now. I have a couple of conferences scheduled for the fall- one to Seattle and the other to Chicago and if they aren't cancelled, I will likely bow out and stay home. It's just not worth it right now for non-essential travel.

[CoryB]

I think one of the first ways Canada/US travel may open up is allowing passengers in-transit through US airports to not self-isolate. That may require a change though prohibiting re-entry to airports when there is a layover. It would also likely require increased reporting to the government on passengers missing connecting flights.

So say you leave MSP on a four hour layover to CDG. Old way you land at MSP and exit the same as anyone without a connecting flight. Then you arrive for your second flight and go through screening, same as any passenger catching their first flight. New way -- your boarding pass would have a strict "cannot leave airport" code on it meaning if you present it to screening for new passengers you would be denied. And your return fly from CDG-MSP-YWG would also be coded so that you could not use that ticket. Further still, if you miss the outbound CDG flight US Department of Homeland would be looking for you as being in the country without a valid visa and you would get a mandatory 14 day isolation hold when located.

Yes, its harsh but if people followed the rules transit through "hot zones" could be possible and could help out airlines across the global.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Jammon

I totally agree with your post. I have zero interest in going to the US right now. I have a couple of conferences scheduled for the fall- one to Seattle and the other to Chicago and if they aren't cancelled, I will likely bow out and stay home. It's just not worth it right now for non-essential travel.

Yeah, I cancelled a couple of flights to the US when Covid broke and there probably would have been a road trip to MN somewhere in there too. I can't fathom going back to the US this year, and even next year looks pretty dicey at this point. There will be a time when it's safe to visit the US again but I just don't see that happening for an absolute minimum of 9 months.

[buzzg]

A family member works for a Canadian chain with several locations in the states. It was really crazy for them trying to reopen with different rules in every state. Then the protests hit and they had to board most of them up. With wave 1.5 right now in US they're just keeping everything shut down for a while now it sounds like.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, I cancelled a couple of flights to the US when Covid broke and there probably would have been a road trip to MN somewhere in there too. I can't fathom going back to the US this year, and even next year looks pretty dicey at this point. There will be a time when it's safe to visit the US again but I just don't see that happening for an absolute minimum of 9 months.

I am hoping to travel to the States in June 2021, not before. Hopefully a workable vaccine will exist by then.

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by buzzg

A family member works for a Canadian chain with several locations in the states. It was really crazy for them trying to reopen with different rules in every state. Then the protests hit and they had to board most of them up. With wave 1.5 right now in US they're just keeping everything shut down for a while now it sounds like.

Quite the opposite actually. Here in Arizona they are taking a very pragmatic approach. Everything is open, and as long as the Health Care system can keep up, it shall remain so.

Headlines scream "record number of new cases today"... but in reality less and less of them are serious or fatal. ICU beds and ventilators are widely available.

As more and more people get tested... the "infection" rate will go up ("skyrocket" in fact), however the mortality rate will go down. For those under 45, it looks like they are more likely to be killed in a car crash than dying of Covid.

[buzzg]

Guess it depends where you go. Have a friend in Buffalo who said the hospitals are at capacity. Insurance also comes into play in the States. Here we don't have to fear what will happen if we are sick with COVID and visit a hospital.

[kattiff]

Originally Posted by esquire

Note I said "some of", not "all of" the darkest days of Covid

The point is that YWG-MSP was one of the last routes to stop operating here and one of the first to restart. So that does speak to some level of willingness to keep operating the route.

Sorry