Fort Smith-based Northwestern Air Lease says its final scheduled flight will take place on January 16, 2025.
The airline currently offers scheduled flights on routes serving Fort Smith, Fort Chipewyan, Edmonton, Hay River, High Level and Yellowknife.
NWAL, as the airline is known locally, will continue to offer charter flights in smaller Cessna aircraft as Yellowknife’s Air Tindi takes over its scheduled flights starting on January 17.
Brian Harrold, the vice president of the family-owned company, said he’s 65 now and his father, Terry, is 90, and so they’ve decided “it’s time to hang up the shingle.”
Harold also said it’s become harder to staff positions, which has made it difficult to offer a consistent scheduled service.
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NWAL will keep various aspects of its contract work, such as surveys in Wood Buffalo National Park, firefighting contracts with the territorial government in the summer, grocery hauls out to the Taltson hydro system, and managing fuel sales at the airport.
“It’s kind-of important to keep the small stuff going too,” Harrold said. Both Brian and Terry passed their medicals for their pilot’s licences last month and will continue to fly the charters.
He thanked Air Tindi for working with NWAL on the handover of scheduled flights, saying the Yellowknife company has “been hugely helpful.”
“Everybody’s pulling together. Hopefully it’ll keep it smooth and keep everybody going,” he said of the transition, noting he expects Air Tindi will hire some of NWAL’s staff for the new routes.
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Air Tindi is in a period of mourning following the sudden passing of Naomi Horsman, the airline’s flight attendant manager, last week. A service for Naomi at one of the airline’s Yellowknife hangars is due to take place on Friday.
In a brief statement to Cabin Radio, Air Tindi president Chris Reynolds said the airline’s focus was on the support of its employees and more information about the future of NWAL’s routes would follow next week.
Posting to Facebook, Mayor of Fort Smith Dana Fergusson extended her “heartfelt thanks for the dedication and commitment you have shown to our community over the years.”
“It is with a heavy heart that I learn of the shifting levels of service,” Fergusson wrote, describing NWAL as “integral” to the community.
“From your humble beginnings to becoming the trusted airline operating in the region, your dedication to family and community is apparent in everything you do. The growth you’ve seen, with over 70 employees, is a testament to the values you’ve instilled in your business and in your community,” she added.
Aastha Sethi contributed reporting.
