The West Kootenay Regional Airport enjoyed perfect reliability in June and July, at least from the perspective of flights getting in and out.
Airport manager Maciej Habrych told city council this month that no flights were cancelled in either month. June saw a 75 per cent passenger load and July 87 per cent, which was “good to see, but kind of expected with only one flight per day.”
However, responding to a question from councillor Shirley Falstead, he acknowledged some flights experienced delays.
While departure times can be set back by security issues, mechanical problems, or other airport operations, Habrych said in this case, it was all due to air traffic delays in Vancouver, and therefore out of their control.
He called it “a testament to staffing issues in the industry” and congestion of air space.
Meanwhile, he said the airport is in its busy season as a base for firefighting efforts. Water bombers have been flying frequently, and the airport is overcapacity as a result, so some are parking on the taxiway.
He said additional aircraft from Alberta could be here for another week depending on conditions.
