Why some medical travel flights south make more stops these days

Killulark Arngna’naaq waited six months to take her son to Edmonton to fix some cavities. When it came time to fly south on medical travel, the flight took almost four hours with stops in two communities along the way.

There are daily direct flights between Edmonton and Yellowknife, but the way medical travel handles that trip recently shifted.

According to the NWT government, this is because of changes to standing offer agreements with the airlines that provide flights for medical travel patients.

Those changes mean Air Tindi now offers the lowest fare between Yellowknife and Edmonton – a city to which NWT residents are often sent for healthcare not offered in the territory.

The drawback? Air Tindi is not among airlines with direct flights between the two cities.

Instead, the trip last month taking Arngna’naaq and her son from Yellowknife to Edmonton went through Fort Smith and Fort Chipewyan.

Standing offer agreements are not contracts. They are offers to provide goods or services at an agreed-upon price for the duration of the agreement.

A spokesperson for the NWT’s health authority said it uses the lowest-priced flight rates available in those agreements when booking medical travel for residents.

“The NTHSSA recognizes that travelling for appointments is inconvenient, but we have a responsibility to adhere to GNWT procurement policy and to support fiscal sustainability,” the spokesperson said, adding ticket flexibility and baggage allowances are also factors.

Arngna’naaq said her MLA reported receiving complaints from other residents about the issue, but had told her “there wasn’t much to be done” because the flights are cheaper and save the GNWT money.

‘Shocked this is the solution’

Chris Reynolds, president of Air Tindi, told Cabin Radio the company does not plan to introduce a direct route between Yellowknife and Edmonton.

“Our goal is to connect remote communities to both the North and the south,” Reynolds said.

“For people to complain about a stop in Hay River that adds half an hour, I think, is rude and kind-of entitled, not considering the people in the South Slave region who struggle a lot while Yellowknife gets a lot more handed to them.”

Reynolds said without the subsidy of government travel, he doubted flights from Hay River and Fort Smith to Edmonton or Yellowknife “could exist, particularly with the cost of fuel these days.”

Arngna’naaq acknowledged she feels “spoiled” with how easy it often is to travel south from Yellowknife, but she worries for people travelling from more isolated communities.

“I just am shocked that this is the solution we’re working with right now as a resident,” she said.

“If I had to see a specialist or travel for medical more often, this would be enough to drive me away from the Northwest Territories – and the North is my home.”

The GNWT lists three standing offer agreements for southern routes. Those agreements are with Air North, Air Tindi and Canadian North.

The health authority spokesperson said they could not provide copies of those agreements because “they contain information that is considered commercially confidential.”

On June 5, Cabin Radio visited the websites of the three airlines, as well as Air Canada and WestJet, to compare publicly available prices and routes for a flight to Edmonton from Yellowknife and back. When required, we used August 18 to August 20 as the travel days. Except when specified, all prices include cancellation and baggage fees.

Air North’s only listed flights to Edmonton from Yellowknife were on March 11, 2027 and April 1, 2027.

Air Tindi had flights Yellowknife to Edmonton listed six days a week via three different routes.

Route one goes from Yellowknife to Fort Smith to Fort Chipewyan to Edmonton, taking three hours and 30 minutes. Route two goes from Yellowknife to Hay River to Edmonton, taking three hours. Route three, from Yellowknife to Hay River to Fort Smith to Edmonton, is listed at three hours and 35 minutes.

No matter the route, flights we could access cost $727 to Edmonton and $788 back to Yellowknife.

A direct flight from Yellowknife to Edmonton on Canadian North was about one hour and 40 minutes and cost $374.27. Flying back from Edmonton was one hour and 45 minutes and cost $390.03. Those prices did not include a cancellation fee.

Direct flights from Yellowknife to Edmonton and back on Air Canada were about the same duration as Canadian North, but the flight to Edmonton cost $301 and a flight back cost $317.

Finally, WestJet’s direct flight to Edmonton from Yellowknife was two hours and 15 minutes long and cost $362.73. The flight back was two hours and 10 minutes and was $378.48.

Importantly, while those were the ticket prices we could access, they likely don’t tell the whole story. Standing offer agreements often include significant bulk discounts – guaranteeing governments better prices while guaranteeing an airline a large amount of business.

Airline aims for quick stops

Arngna’naaq said it wasn’t just the duration of the flight and the amount of stops that made this medical travel experience uncomfortable, but also the service she received on the plane.

“I’m a northern traveller. Like most milk runs, you can get off a plane and walk around. They’re not usually very hot and they usually have a little bit of snacks for passengers. So I was aware of the route, but there was more that I expected from the milk run than was received,” said Arngna’naaq.

Arngna’naaq said she wasn’t allowed off the plane when it stopped in Fort Smith and Fort Chipewyan, there was no food aside from crackers on the plane, and there was nothing other than coffee to drink.

“My son is pretty used to travelling, so we managed OK. But thinking about the type of people that have to go on medical travel, they’re quite vulnerable,” she said.

Reynolds said all Air Tindi flights offer snacks and drinks for free. He said people are asked to stay on board the plane so the stops can be as quick as possible, and apologized if the aircraft had been hot on that day. He said Air Tindi planes, like other commercial aircraft, have air conditioning on board.

Arngna’naaq said she was told by a friend she could purchase her own flights and get reimbursed by the GNWT but, by the time her son’s appointment was scheduled, prices for flights were $400 beyond the limit the GNWT told Arngna’naaq it would reimburse. She thinks the option to book your own flights and seek reimbursement could be better advertised.

Beyond that, she feels the medical travel system of 2026 is a lot like the one she experienced in 2021 when travelling to Edmonton to give birth.

“Both instances, I didn’t feel I had somebody to talk to, to support me in the travels. Like, I can call the GNWT travel number but I don’t know who’s on the other end, they don’t know when my appointments are, they don’t know what’s sending me to Edmonton,” said Arngna’naaq.

“Everything is very disconnected and both times it didn’t feel like I was treated with dignity and as a human. I was very much treated like a file.”

She wants the GNWT to share more information with medical travel passengers about the duration of their flights and what they should expect on board, so people are more prepared.

For medical travel arranged by the NWT’s health authority, the authority’s spokesperson said information about the route is provided to the passenger ahead of time.