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As someone with family in the SLC area, can't wait for this to happen. The DL direct flights are E175 and incredibly expensive ($600-$900 for a 1.5 hr flight RT). I see that once WJ starts flying MSP, the prices for those dates go from $800+ to $350.
YYC facebook page posted on July 22nd that phase 1 was complete and phase 2 had started. This involves the closure of the intersection of runways 17R/35L and 11/29. There is about 7600' of runway 17R/35L now available to departures and arrivals when capable.
You can see the current work progress well in recent satellite imagery. Along with the work and extension north on runway 17R/35L, it also looks to be a sizeable extension to runway 11/29 on either end to help with those strong chinook wind days.
What about other airlines on the ground at the time, ie: AC, etc? Did they also experience aircraft damage?Wesjet is reporting that 16 of their planes received significant Hail damage from the storm to the point that they required maintenance before returning to flight. Looks like this is the reason most flights have been cancelled lately not because of the Terminals damage itself.
WestJet service update – August 8
16 aircraft across WestJet’s fleet grounded with significant hail damage as teams across. the airline work diligently to understand and implement required inspections and repairs. Guests are advised to check the status of their flight prior to leaving for the airportwww.westjet.com
Domestic numbers are down for all major airports in Canada, not just for June, but YTD. I don't know the reason, but from what I'm hearing I'm guessing prices are part of it as I've heard a lot of complaining about the price of domestic flights. I'm also wondering if we are only seeing a drop after the pent up demand built up after covid. Whatever the case, the 8 busiest airports in Canada are all seeing drops in domestic numbers.
AC also had a few damages, I think 4. But obviously they have less aircrafts parked at YYC compared to WJ at any given time.
WJ is private but AC stock price is currently below their lows reached in Covid, With pilot and staff pay catching up to the US, prices will be even more under pressure in years to come. For a country where air travel is necessary for many people, a rethink of the funding model for airports is necessary.
I'd go bigger; a comprehensive and cohesive transportation plan is necessary. I'm talking rail and air. Granted HSR is much more difficult to justify in the west but out east someone needs to standup and properly plan our transportation networks. And eventually, if we want to improve our living standard, HSR between bigger western cities is important (Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Kamloops, and Vancouver). If we continue to concentrate our growth in so few cities, those tier 2 cities will begin to become unaffordable as well.
