Editor’s Note: Saint John Airport CEO Sandy Ross invited The Macdonald Notebook on the inaugural flight this past week connecting Halifax and Saint John. Writer Avery Mullen went on the historic flight.
By Avery Mullen
Changes to how the Quebec government works with airlines, and financial guarantees for carrier Pascan from Atlantic Canadian airports are among the factors that helped bring about an expansion of regional aviation services on the East Coast for the first time since the pandemic.
Saint John airport CEO Sandy Ross chats with Halifax Mayor Mike Savage. Ross has described the Halifax-to-Saint John route as among the most popular in Atlantic Canada prior to the pandemic.
Pascan Airlines has launched a new route connecting Bathurst, N.B., Saint John and Halifax. It has been looking for business opportunities outside Quebec, said Saint John airport CEO Sandy Ross this week following an inaugural flight with airport and Pascan executives.
Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon chats with the city’s airport CEO, Alexander Ross Monday, as Halifax Mayor Mike Savage looks on.
Ross told The Macdonald Notebook the air flights between Halifax to Saint John are priced below $500 a seat, “cheaper” than the five-hour drive from both cities.
“They had had some issues in terms of operating in Quebec and the nature of the relationship between the Quebec government and the airline industry,” he said in his office in Saint John. “They were really looking for somewhere they could go and get a solid commercial footing — something that was really going to work in the market, as opposed to something that would be dependent upon government subsidies.”
Pascan Airlines CEO Julian Roberts greets a delegate during an event celebrating his airline’s launch of a route connecting Bathurst, Saint John, Halifax and Sydney this week.
The Pascan entry comes in the wake of a tumultuous few years for aviation in Atlantic Canada, with the pandemic one of several factors that led to virtually every operator slashing service. In the early days of Covid-19’s arrival in Canada, for example, WestJet cut four-fifths of its Atlantic Canadian service, 100 flights, and that activity has not returned.
Ross originally approached Pascan’s previous owners about two years ago, and while he said the company has since changed hands, CEO Julian Roberts has remained at the helm.
The Quebec government has grappled with problems around how it implements financial support for airlines in recent years. In October of 2023, for example, the province said it was scrapping funding for nearly a third of the almost 100,000 affordable flights it was subsidizing to remote destinations. A month later, Pascan told employees in a memo leaked to Radio-Canada that it was cutting flights to far-flung parts of Quebec and laying off staff.
“The Saint John to Halifax route used to fly 40,000 seats a year,” said Ross. “It was one of the best-performing routes in Atlantic Canada.
“So we had some discussions about how to put that together, how to develop it, how to create enough dollars for (Pascan), a combination of what the airports could do, to be able to keep them at least at break-even.”
A Pascan Saab 340 disembarks on the tarmac at Saint John Airport. The airline has been looking for business opportunities outside Quebec that will not be reliant on government assistance.
The portion of the route from Bathurst to Halifax started operating this week, while the first Pascan flight to Cape Breton will touch down Oct. 7.
The arrival of Montreal-based Pascan in the Maritimes could also herald at least a partial workaround for airports that have grappled with an increasingly severe pilot shortage in recent years, Bathurst airport CEO Jamie Degrace said.
“The pilot shortage issue is still alive,” said Degrace. “The major hubs all have more than their capacities…but smaller centres, mid-size and smaller airports, they having less and less connection.”
Also contributing to that shortage are Transport Canada regulations that now more tightly restrict the number of hours pilots can work, Degrace and Ross both said.
Working with Pascan also offers operational advantages for the airports themselves, Ross added. Most major carriers, like Air Canada and WestJet, have switched to larger twin-engine jets like the Airbus a319 and a320, as well as the Boeing 737, allowing them to carry the same number of passengers with fewer trips.
But while consolidating flights can help airlines cut costs, it can also mean that small, regional airports are forced to accommodate hundreds of passengers at a time, where previously they would have seen a larger number of smaller planes arriving. The Saint John Airport for example, is eyeing major renovations to increase the capacity of its arrivals area.
Pascan, by contrast, used a Saab 340 that seats fewer than 40 people for the flight Monday, in keeping with its generally smaller fleet.
Travelling from Saint John to Halifax, a passenger is treated to sweeping views of the Bay of Fundy, its famous tides outlines in streaks of red clay. On Monday, the weather was clear and smooth, and the trip took only about 25 minutes, in keeping with its typical length.
The Saab aircraft have two rows of seats on one side, and a single row on the other so most passengers have a window seat. The seats themselves are also roomier and softer than those found in the economy class of major carriers, with a little extra legroom, though there is no business class seating. On the flight this reporter took, staff were extraordinarily friendly and helpful.
Passenger counts for the regional aviation flights that still operate in Atlantic Canada have roughly returned to pre-pandemic levels, Ross said, which makes him optimistic about Pascan’s prospects. Tickets between Halifax and Saint John are also selling for price points that he described as similar to 2019.
“We so appreciate the support of our communities for both of our airports,” said Bathurst chief Degrace. “But we do need to see the public and the business community take advantage of these flights. They were looking for it, and it’s been delivered, so now we want to see it succeed.”
