Will Westjet start Cranbrook service?
Jun 16, 2008, 3:56 pm
#16
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Cranbrook BC
Posts: 17
Jul 17, 2008, 2:29 pm
#17
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 336
WestJet? You bet!
I grew up in Fernie, and I would argue that Cranbrook could sustain 737 flights. The problem right now is that the airfares out of Cranbrook are fairly high and a lot of people are travelling elsewhere to fly. If you took a look at the airports in the area, I'm pretty sure that Cranbrook has the only Canadian commercial airport in a 3 to 5 hour driving radius. They are losing large numbers of travelers who are driving several hours (3 to 8 hours) to fly out of the airport in Calgary if they are flying in Canada or to Kalispell and Spokane in the U.S..
If increased competition were to occur on flights to Cranbrook and it brought down prices somewhat, I think that a lot more people would start using the Cranbook airport rather than driving several hours to save some money. Remember that no matter which airport people in the region are flying from, they are going to have to drive a minimum of one hour and possibly two to get to the "local" airport. So if you have to drive an extra hour to save a hundred bucks/person, it isn't that big a deal.
The other consideration is that the ski resorts in the area are growing fairly quickly and the region is starting to become a bigger summer destination with several golf course being built and lots of other outdoor activities being available.
If increased competition were to occur on flights to Cranbrook and it brought down prices somewhat, I think that a lot more people would start using the Cranbook airport rather than driving several hours to save some money. Remember that no matter which airport people in the region are flying from, they are going to have to drive a minimum of one hour and possibly two to get to the "local" airport. So if you have to drive an extra hour to save a hundred bucks/person, it isn't that big a deal.
The other consideration is that the ski resorts in the area are growing fairly quickly and the region is starting to become a bigger summer destination with several golf course being built and lots of other outdoor activities being available.
- Runway expansion now complete to 8000ft.
- Now accomodates: A310 A319 A320 A321 737-6,7,800 757-200 767-300.
- Delta is launching Cranbrook-Salt Lake service this December. (Although at somewhat poor timing for the US economy)
- 14 full size golf courses, resorts & more on the way (plus many par 3's) in the East Kootenays.
- Plenty of wonderful outdoor activities to participate in year around: hiking, camping, fishing, mountain biking, kayaking, hunting, golfing, skiing, snow boarding, snow shooing, cross country, and many more!
- Many of these communities swell significantly in size in summer and winter, which is not captured by census data.
- FYI The 1978 accident actually took place at a physically different airport/location, no longer in operation.
- As a kid, I remember flying on reasonably filled jets out of the NEW/current Cranbrook airport location.
- Before the Air Canada/Canadian merger debacle, they were running up to 8 flights daily in and out of Cranbrook to Calgary and Vancouver on Dash-8's. Some were milk runs with another drop in the Okanagan along the way. While the Calgary run wasn't always full, the rest of the trips nearly always were.
- Air Canada/Canadian had a long history of predatory pricing tactics in Cranbrook, and only since their merger have become somewhat relaxed with Pacific Coastal now making regular flights for the past several years.
- In short, previously when the major's Cranbrook service took a dive (poor flight options, smaller planes, higher prices) so did their ridership. Go figure!
- Many many people prefer to travel on larger planes/jets, and are more than willing to make the drive to Calgary or Spokane to get that service.
The short: WestJet? You bet! They can seriously give AC a run for their money.
Mar 28, 2009, 2:49 pm
#18
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Cranbrook BC
Posts: 17
Cranbrook should be able to sustain the 737's if the ticket prices are reasonable. The problem with Cranbrook's airport right now is that all of the flights on Air Canada and Pacific Coastal are expensive and on small aircrafts. Almost everyone I know that lives here flies out of Calgary, Spokane, and Kalispell 10x more than Cranbrook because it's a better deal for them, and some of them don't even fly out from here. Does anyone remember Pacific Western Airlines? They had multiple flights a day on a 737-200 in Cranbrook back in the 70's, 80's and 90's.
Last edited by kidder15; Apr 10, 2011 at 5:59 pm Reason: Was young and uneducated on the subject
Mar 28, 2009, 8:28 pm
#19
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: YEG
Programs: Aeroplan P
Posts: 191
Mar 29, 2009, 3:03 am
#20
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,830
. Cranbrooks population is over 26,000 now, and another thing is that The Kootenays is one of Canada's most valuable tourism areas, and the entire east Kootenay's has over 70,000 poeple, and the West Kootenays plus the East Kootenays has over 150,000 people. Who thought that Comox could support a 737?
Nanaimo 78,000
Parksville 10,900
Qualicum 8,500
Courtenay 21,900
Comox 12,000
Campbell River 32,000
Apr 12, 2009, 3:51 pm
#22
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan, FPC, Delta Privilege Gold, Air Miles Gold
Posts: 152
That aircraft would do well in the smaller Canadian markets and its very cheap to operate.bad thought I guess since Porter seems to be doing well in their niche market but if WS is patient enough, it may happen!
Apr 13, 2009, 11:51 pm
#23
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 31
While I love your creativity and big dreams, I should let you know that our internal rumour-buster page once clarified that WestJet will be looking for larger metal, not smaller, when the time is right. It was pretty hush on how long we'd be waiting, though :-)
Dec 1, 2011, 2:09 pm
#25
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 1
Yesterday on the Calgary news, there was mention of the expansion of Cranbrook's runway and terminal, with the anticipation of international flights coming to their airport. It was also mentioned that with the expansion, a third airline is being wooed and Westjet was specifically named. Do you think Cranbrook is on Westjet's radar and if so, what would the target desitinations be: Vancouver and Calgary, making connections from those cities, or ....?
Dec 1, 2011, 10:10 pm
#29
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 797
Cranbrook to Calgary is 130 miles, even less than Calgary - Edmonton so I don't think you'll ever see a 737 on that route. When PWA did it, oil was $20 a barrel!
I can't see Cranbrook to Winnipeg or Toronto either.
Cranbrook to Vancouver is 335 miles but would have to arranged so it fed other routes out of Vancouver and other than Prince George, it is all US and Mexico.
I don't know too much about their schedule, but I'll bet most of those flights leave Vancouver in the morning so that means a later in the evening flight from Vancouver to Cranbrook that connects from as many other destinations, overnights in Cranbrook and an early morning flight to Vancouver to hook up with the flights to Prince George and the south and Hawaii.
Westjet rarely seems to start markets with an overnight aircraft as it just makes it more expensive.
I just don't see Cranbrook on Westjets radar screen until they add a second fleet type!
I can't see Cranbrook to Winnipeg or Toronto either.
Cranbrook to Vancouver is 335 miles but would have to arranged so it fed other routes out of Vancouver and other than Prince George, it is all US and Mexico.
I don't know too much about their schedule, but I'll bet most of those flights leave Vancouver in the morning so that means a later in the evening flight from Vancouver to Cranbrook that connects from as many other destinations, overnights in Cranbrook and an early morning flight to Vancouver to hook up with the flights to Prince George and the south and Hawaii.
Westjet rarely seems to start markets with an overnight aircraft as it just makes it more expensive.
I just don't see Cranbrook on Westjets radar screen until they add a second fleet type!
Sep 4, 2017, 1:48 pm
#30
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 336
*bump*
6 years later, and many flights in/out of Cranbrook are full to the gills on larger Dash-8's, Pacific Coastal has increased service, often with a Saab comparable to Dash-8's. Now that WS is running Q400's, this seems like a viable option, as well as larger AC metal occasionally to Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna, or beyond (2x/week etc).
We did lose the Delta snowbird run to Salt-Lake (always a reach)... but a CRJ-900 between YXC-YVR would be easily doable. While the route to YYC is short, it is needed due to seasonal road conditions through the Rockies, and deserves better than a Beechcraft (I like flying on all types of planes, but those get pushed around so much over the Rockies and on YXC approach -- and then you have to sit on the tarmac for 30min to connect to a gate -- it's no wonder there's lower demand on that route).
6 years later, and many flights in/out of Cranbrook are full to the gills on larger Dash-8's, Pacific Coastal has increased service, often with a Saab comparable to Dash-8's. Now that WS is running Q400's, this seems like a viable option, as well as larger AC metal occasionally to Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna, or beyond (2x/week etc).
We did lose the Delta snowbird run to Salt-Lake (always a reach)... but a CRJ-900 between YXC-YVR would be easily doable. While the route to YYC is short, it is needed due to seasonal road conditions through the Rockies, and deserves better than a Beechcraft (I like flying on all types of planes, but those get pushed around so much over the Rockies and on YXC approach -- and then you have to sit on the tarmac for 30min to connect to a gate -- it's no wonder there's lower demand on that route).