Bearskin to YKF

desksgo · Post by **desksgo** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:39 am

Hopefully it won't go the way of YKZ.

WATERLOO REGION

The expanding local airport in Breslau has hooked another small airline, which will offer up to three daily flights to Ottawa.

Bearskin Airlines, which caters to business travellers in northern Ontario and Manitoba, will launch its Ottawa service Oct. 1.

Bearskin joins giant carriers Northwest, which flies to Detroit, and Westjet, which flies to Calgary. The airport also offers vacation charter flights in the winter months.

Bearskin spokesperson Ron Hell said the Ottawa services is aimed at business travellers.

He expects Bearskin to succeed, where four small carriers have failed since the 1970s, because it has a better track record, deeper pockets and more experience.

The airline, owned mostly by two brothers, was founded in 1963. It’s an Aeroplan partner, and is one of the oldest commuter airlines in central Canada.

The airline will use 19-seat turboprops. Flying time to Ottawa is just under an hour.
Regular return fares are expected to be in the range of $370, including fees and taxes, but seats will be on sale when the airline launches.

atpilot · Post by **atpilot** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:09 pm

I hope they don't leave the "business traveller" out in the cold in Kitchener like they did in Markham when they ceased operations without any warning.

Jeremy Kent · Post by **Jeremy Kent** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:19 pm

What a blast from the past! I live right under the approach for 25... I never thought the beige death tubes would find me down here!

bob sacamano · Post by **bob sacamano** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:42 pm

Jeremy Kent wrote:What a blast from the past! I live right under the approach for 25... I never thought the beige death tubes would find me down here!

Half of them aren't beige anymore

costermonger · Post by **costermonger** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:59 pm

Hope the third time's the charm for YKF-YOW service.

Elessar_44 · Post by **Elessar_44** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:59 am

Good news for my hometown. It'd be nice to fly outta there some time in the future.

Snowgoose · Post by **Snowgoose** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:37 pm

costermonger wrote:Hope the third time's the charm for YKF-YOW service.

Funny how some people don't learn from other people's mistakes. It's been less than 10 years since the last gang folded while doing this run. Didn't think I'd see this run fire up again this soon. Although I heard Georgian was thinking about it too. Maybe there will even be competition and a seat sale.

. . · Post by **. .** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:16 pm

The run is very highly subsidized, so it's not as silly of a move as many think.

Good on bearskin for always pushing out and trying new routes. I hope they do well.

atpilot · Post by **atpilot** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:45 pm

I hope they do well too. However, there have been more than 3 kicks at the can in this case. I have a feeling we'll all be talking about this in another 8 to 12 months.

costermonger · Post by **costermonger** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 5:07 pm

Snowgoose wrote:Funny how some people don't learn from other people's mistakes. It's been less than 10 years since the last gang folded while doing this run. Didn't think I'd see this run fire up again this soon. Although I heard Georgian was thinking about it too. Maybe there will even be competition and a seat sale.

Ever since QuikAir dropped the YKF-YOW and YKF-YUL routes, I've wondered if that happened because of the problems within the company, or if the routes themselves were the problem.

I guess we'll see. I don't know what kind of numbers they were getting.

I know of Trillium, QuikAir and now Bearskin.. Who else has tried this one?

Stephen Szikora · Post by **Stephen Szikora** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 6:44 pm

The service started October 1. I took a return flight YKF-YOW-YKF on October 10 and was very pleased with the service. The flight out at 7am was half full (nine) and the return flight at 6pm was full (eighteen). Impressive for only the first week or so of service, but I think they might have difficulty with 3 return flights a day. I'll use it for every trip to Ottawa from this point on.

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:42 pm

I don't know, it'd be nice to see it all work out for them, but the lawn dart will get pretty old, pretty fast for the Biz guy on that route. Only time will tell.

bob sacamano · Post by **bob sacamano** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:13 am

Doc wrote:I don't know, it'd be nice to see it all work out for them, but the lawn dart will get pretty old, pretty fast for the Biz guy on that route. Only time will tell.

Why would the biz flyer get tired of the lawn dart?

Would it get so old and tired that the biz flyer would drive to Ottawa?

Or would it get so old and tired that they would drive 1.5 hours to YYZ, then wait there for at least 1 hour, then take a flight that's 45min long?

I highly doubt it.

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:59 am

Well Bob, as I said, only time will tell.

Stephen Szikora · Post by **Stephen Szikora** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:29 am

Oh. one thing I forgot to mention. It is loud in the aircraft (Fairchild Metroliner) so when in Ottawa I dropped into a Candian Tire and bought some earplugs for the return flight! I was sitting at the front beside the props so I had the worst seat (but I prefer to watch the crews.) They should offer earplugs with the service. That is the one thing I think could irritate some passengers.

Anonymous1 · Post by **Anonymous1** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 8:55 am

You mean "service" in the context of a transportation service don't you? Just because most people in the airlines use the word "service" to imply cabin amenities such as F/As, wine selection, entertainment, etc.

Stephen Szikora · Post by **Stephen Szikora** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:17 am

The passengers don't work for the airlines (quite the opposite, actually.)

bob sacamano · Post by **bob sacamano** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:38 pm

These are bearskin metro's, not perimeter. The cabin noise is not even comparable.

For 50 minutes, I'm pretty sure I'd put up with it, given my other choices for traveling between YKF and YOW.

Localizer · Post by **Localizer** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:38 pm

The 3 and 23 are very quiet compared to the 2's. If thats makes you feel a little warm inside.

As for the run ... Harvey has lasted this long in aviation, im sure he's got his ducks in a row for this. The Metro is cheap to operate and im sure there are a few kick backs for trying this new venture.

Loc

CaptainHaddock · Post by **CaptainHaddock** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:59 pm

He's right,they should handout earplugs-I've never met a quiet metro.