An advocate for more affordable airfare in Labrador says she’s received commitments from the only commercial carrier in the region that it will explore what it can do to bring prices down.
Dena Rumbolt, who organized a recent rally that protested high air fares, attended a meeting last Friday between local residents, employees of PAL Airlines, and representatives from the provincial and federal governments.
“We had our hearts on the table, and you could see it in their faces. And you could see that they understood where we were coming from emotionally. And they knew we were right,” Rumbolt told CBC News Tuesday.
“They know they can do something. They know we’re overcharged. They do know that. So the thing is the affordability is the number one concern.”
Protests stemmed from an October report by the Goose Bay Airport Commission, which showed average airfare prices in Happy Valley-Goose Bay have risen by 33.1 per cent since 2019. In Wabush, prices have risen by 47 per cent over the same time.
PAL Airlines and its partner airline, Air Borealis, provide the only option for Labrador residents needing to travel by air.
The report found that the average plane ticket from Nain to St. John’s cost $2,497.
Rumbolt said she asked PAL who could afford such a fare on short notice, especially in the event of something like the loss of a loved one.
About 100 people turned out to a rally on Saturday to say they’re fed up with airfares that increased upwards of 30 per cent in the last five years. The CBC’s Darryl Dinn reports.
“What if it were you living here and earning a living for your family? And you had a mother or a son or a daughter that was dying and you had to get out? And you’re relying on one airline, and you had to pay $2,000. How would you feel?” she asked.
“When I put it to them personally…I think each one of them, more or less, grasped it.”
PAL Airlines declined an interview request from CBC News on Thursday, saying they’d rather communicate potential next steps directly with members at an upcoming meeting.
Rumbolt said she left the meeting feeling like progress had been made. That will be proved in four weeks time, she said, when the groups will meet again with recommendations PAL is working to put forward.
Labrador MP Yvonne Jones, who was also a part of the meeting, told CBC News she believes the concerns of residents were heard loud and clear.
“People have felt tremendously frustrated, because in many cases people were really counting on that aircraft to get out of the community,” she said.
Jones said safety and human resource concerns were also discussed over the nearly four-hour meeting.
“The airline has told us they’ve had some major issues with pilot recruitment. You know, adding new aircraft to their inventory in which they’ve been working out the cranks.”
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