Dozens of excited passengers arrived at Prince Rupert’s Digby Island on Feb. 3, eager to board their flight to Vancouver, but after an exhausting 11-hour ordeal, they found themselves heading back to their homes with their hopes of reaching their destination dashed in the darkness of the night.
Air Canada Express’s afternoon Jazz flight from a nearby island is the only air route that hopeful residents of Prince Rupert and surrounding areas can rely on to stay connected to the rest of the world. Getting to the airport involves travelling from their homes to a shuttle stop, then cruising on a ferry to the island, followed by a short drive to the airport.
Tina Ryan-Krumm, a Guardian Watchman for Metlakatla, was travelling with a coworker and his wife for a work trip.
“We were on our way to Vancouver for a two-day workshop and training for new software for our tablets we use on patrols,” Krumm said.
Like many others, Krumm arrived at the airport early in the afternoon after travelling from Metlakatla to the shuttle in Rupert. As the hours passed, she says she received 15 text messages notifying them of flight delays. Initially, the staff told them there were mechanical issues.
Howard Gray, a Rupertite, also had an important reason to catch the flight. He was scheduled for a medical exam in Vancouver the following day. It was a test that could not be done at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital. Gray and the others watched in frustration as the flight, originally scheduled to take off at 3:40 p.m., continued to be delayed.
At 6 p.m., airport staff informed passengers that the plane would take at least four more hours to arrive.
“It was a whole bunch of not very happy people,” said Gray. “The airport has no coffee, nothing!" he added.
"The only food we had were vending machines filled with junk food,” said Krumm.
However, Gray, who has travelled from the North for decades, then witnessed something he had never experienced before. Airport staff brought over boxes of pizzas for the travellers on a ferry from Prince Rupert.
“We were given two pieces of pizza and a drink and granola bar finally about 6 p.m.,” said Krumm.
After dinner, the passengers were fueled to wait a few more hours. However, the weary group began to feel the effects of the long delay.
“About 12:30 a.m., we could hear the plane fly over us, it circled twice,” said Krumm. Their final delay meant they could take off on that flight from Vancouver at 12:45 a.m.
But the weather disagreed.
“The plane flew over us, but it never landed,” said Gray. The pilot said it was too windy to land and the plane headed away.
Air Canada staff finally informed everyone they had cancelled the flight.
"Safety is always the first priority for all Air Canada flights, its customers and crews," Air Canada told The Northern View. Vancouver faced heavy snow, causing delays in de-icing operations. After de-icing, the flight to Prince Rupert had to return to the gate for re-fuelling. During the approach to Prince Rupert, the flight encountered severe turbulence and was diverted to Terrace for safety. They needed to do a maintenance inspection after the turbulence.
As a result, Gray missed his medical appointment and has rescheduled for March.
Krumm and her coworker were still hopeful to attend the second day of their work trip.
Gray noted a young couple needed to fly to Cancun for their wedding. However, their family, who had travelled from a different location, had already reached there while the couple had to return to Rupert.
Additionally, several other trips were jeopardized as people were making international journeys to destinations such as Germany, the Philippines, and Mexico via Vancouver.
"We had to cancel our trip to Mexico because we missed our connecting flight," said passenger Virgie Silab. Silab was travelling with her husband and two children for a vacation.
Gray returned home at 1 a.m. in Rupert, but Krumm’s troubles did not end there.
With no accommodations available in Rupert at such a late hour, Krumm’s husband made the trip from Metlakatla by boat in the dark to pick her up.
“My husband had to come over and pick myself, coworker and his wife up at the dock at the airport. We didn’t have any place to stay in Rupert that late,” said Krumm.
By the time she and her group returned home to Metlakatla in the morning, they had spent over eleven hours for a flight that never happened.
Air Canada notified Krumm that she got a spot on a replacement flight scheduled for 2:30 p.m. the next day, only to be informed later that it would be delayed until 4:20 p.m.
“Finally got last text about noon yesterday saying the flight was cancelled again,” said Krumm.
Utterly frustrated with her travel experience from Prince Rupert, she called Air Canada to inquire about changing their reservation to fly out of Terrace instead.
“The agent said we would have to pay about $2,000 each if we flew out of Terrace,” said Krumm. She and her coworkers just gave up and cancelled.
“It was a crazy couple of days,” Krumm said.
As a long-term resident of Rupert, Gray felt Air Canada staff could have managed the group’s situation better.
“I usually fly out of Terrace because it is more dependable,” said Gray.
Rupert has only one flight option each day, and if something happens to it, he worries that he won’t be able to catch another flight on the same day. This concern is echoed by many others who find themselves restricted, exhausted, and ultimately disappointed.
Gray believes the staff should have cancelled the flight earlier if they anticipated the prolonged wait rather than keeping them deserted at the airport for nearly half the day.
