News Release
Councillor Upset About Air Canada Office Closure
(Tuesday, November 6/2001)-- Halifax Regional Municipal Councillor Brian Warshick today denounced Air Canada's permanent closure of its Halifax office as nothing more than "putting profit before service".
Air Canada has operated an office in downtown Halifax for years but visitors ( including the District 6 Councillor) were advised by a sign on the door Monday that the airline had ceased to do business there permanently, as of close of business last Friday.
Councillor Warshick has called upon federal Transportation Minister David Collenette to set up a committee to monitor any further cutbacks in Air Canada's service in Canada, before any additional aid is given from his department.
"Due to our geographic location on the east coast of Canada, the vast majority of Halifax's air traffic flows in a westerly direction. Recently, the airline has eliminated the direct flight to Washington, another to Calgary and reduced many of its Halifax departures to Toronto and other cities. When Air Canada took over Canadian Airlines, we were assured that while there would be some efficiencies, the vast majority of our services would not be affected. That's just not proving to be so, " he said.
Councillor Warshick added "I realize the picture for many airlines began changing earlier this year as recession started to creep in, and of course September 11th added tremendously to their financial burden. However, some areas will suffer more than others. If you are located in central or many parts of Western Canada, you have sufficient east-west and possibly north-south traffic to allow for good customer flow, but that's not the case in Halifax where almost all of the traffic heads west."
He said the permanent closure of the Air Canada office in Halifax does nothing to improve service to customers, but further jeopardizes the status of Halifax International Airport as seventh largest airport in Canada.
The Councillor said "It's time the Transportation Minister took greater control of our national airline. It's also time Air Canada President Robert Milton gave an account to Atlantic Canadians about these actions and what other service cuts we may expect in the next 6 to 24 months."
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Councillor Brian Warshick
(902) 488-3800
