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DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — After the over year and a half of work it took to implement WestJet’s services in Dawson Creek, the current and former mayors cannot help but be disappointed by the airline’s decision to pull services after two years.
WestJet announced on February 8th that the airline company would no longer be servicing the Dawson Creek airport as of March 1st, 2023.
The current mayor of Dawson Creek, Darcy Dober, said he was disheartened by the announcement but added that it is “understandable.”
“I’m thankful that WestJet gave it an opportunity here. Mind you, it was probably the two toughest years in that industry to try,” Dober said.
“So it was a tough time, and the worldwide airline industry is struggling right now.”
Until the announcement, WestJet was the only commercial airline that flew into Dawson Creek Airport. The previous mayor, Dale Bumstead, was instrumental in getting the airline into Dawson Creek in the first place.
Bumstead recounted all the work that went into creating a business case to present to WestJet.
“We worked, probably over the course of 18 months at least, just providing data and getting flight data, passenger data, and information from all the industry folks,” Bumstead explained.
Bumstead said he thought it was likely that, eventually, another airline would come into Dawson Creek to service not only the city but the whole south Peace area as well.
Dober also indicated the city would be looking into getting other airlines to service the community. He added that in the meantime, neighbouring communities like Fort St. John and Grand Prairie would help.
In a release by WestJet, the company stated the decision to pull services is “extremely difficult and never taken lightly.”
“Unfortunately, despite efforts made to support the route’s viability, service between Dawson Creek and Calgary was not performing to expectation due to insufficient demand,” stated WestJet.
WestJet apologized for the impact the decision may have.
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