Perimeter Aviation, the parent company of Bearskin Airlines says it plans to discontinue passenger service from Thunder Bay, Ont. to Dryden, Fort Frances, and Kenora effective May 11. Termination of the flights is being blamed on financial reasons.

Roger Nesbitt, chief administrating officer (CAO) for the City of Dryden, said this will have a tremendous impact on the residents, businesses, essential services, and connectivity in the Northwest region of the province.

“That is our only scheduled passenger service and at this point, we’ll have no scheduled service to offer businesses or residents trying to use air travel in and out of the community,” he said. “This will have a significant impact from an economic development standpoint. With challenges of attracting new businesses into our region, this doesn’t help.”

“That boils down to demand and the demand is there,” Nesbitt added. “The reasons cited by the carrier are just not financially viable. The onus is on the carrier to ensure that they’re providing a quality, reliable and cost-effective service to ensure that that demand is leveraged.

According to the Bearskin Airline online booking system, a return flight between Jan. 17 to Jan. 19 for one adult from Thunder Bay to Dryden is $893. From Thunder Bay to Fort Frances $901 and from Thunder Bay to Kenora, $990.

Nesbitt worries about residents who rely on the airline to travel to larger medical centres for medical appointments who he says are now faced with trying to find alternate transportation to and from Thunder Bay or Winnipeg.

Travis Rob, the CAO for Fort Frances, has the same concerns and said the airline suggested they rely on bus service from Ontario Northland, a bussing company that provides transportation in a loop between Thunder Bay, Fort Frances, Dryden and Kenora.

“The people that were flying Bearskin Air to and from town are not the same people that are going to be hopping on a bus to travel to Thunder Bay or other places,” said Rob. “The impacts in the community (from this) is absolutely huge.”

He said the bus service is not ideal for some passengers and does not fill the gap left by Bearskin Airlines.

“We already see a tremendous number of MedEvac flights in and out of Fort Francis throughout the year,” he said. “We don’t know now if we’ll need to rely on more passenger transfer through the MedEvac system, which of course puts a (heavier) burden on the whole healthcare system, or if the bus can fill that need. This is a big question for us.”

Rob described the bus route as a loop.

“If you’re in Fort Francis and you want to get to Thunder Bay on the bus, you will travel first to Dryden, then Kenora and then to Thunder Bay. You’ve got to do the whole loop,” he said.

Rob said the news of the service cancellation didn’t come as a surprise and they have been talking with Bearskin Airline.

“Coming out of COVID, we saw, not surprisingly, a huge decline in the number of flights to and from Fort Francis on Bearskin. We also noticed a huge increase in the cost of those flights but there were still flights happening,” he said. “For some passengers, it became less convenient, particularly if you’re trying to make a connecting flight because you had no options. Bearskin comes once a day and your option was to get on or not and that impacted the ridership.”

Rob noted that in 2023, the town saw its highest number of Bearskin Airline passengers since the pandemic.

For now, Rob and Nesbitt are working closely with the CEO of Kenora to find a solution and another airline to fill the gap.

Perimeter Aviation said their continued efforts to provide travel connections, the sustained impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented decline in passenger demand.

“Travel levels in Dryden, Kenora, and Fort Frances have not rebounded to pre-COVID levels, posing significant challenges to the sustainability of our operations in these communities,” said Scott Woodward, director of business development for Perimeter Aviation. “Over the last year, the three destinations saw an average of two passengers per flight, reflecting the drastic reduction in demand for air travel in the region overall.”

The airline will continue to operate regular scheduled services to Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay.