Cancelled flights in and out of small B.C. community making it 'harder and harder to live here': residents

Once a month, Abbotsford-based optometrist Dr. Vicky Mahairhu flies from Vancouver to Fort Nelson, B.C., a more than 1,000 kilometre journey, to care for patients in the northeastern community. 

But every time she flies, Mahairhu said there are last-minute cancellations that affect her on either end — and sometimes both. 

That's why she's written to the airline and the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality mayor and council, calling for a solution. 

In February, Mahairhu's flight to Fort Nelson, a community of about 2,600 people, according to the 2021 census, was cancelled as she arrived at the airport to check in. She was then forced to cancel all the appointments she had scheduled for her six days in Fort Nelson. 

Then, in March, her flight back to Vancouver was cancelled multiple times. Her Monday flight was cancelled, and she was rebooked on the next flight out on Wednesday, but then that flight was cancelled, and she was put on a Friday flight. 

"I was up there in Fort Nelson for an extra week, and I was not prepared for that," she told CBC's Daybreak North host, Carolina de Ryk, of what the municipality's mayor describes as unreliable airline service. 

Similar to the situation in February, she had to cancel her patient appointments in Abbotsford for that whole week. 

On top of that, she said, her kids were left at home without a parent for several days. 

"It is affecting my work, and it is stressing me out too when the kids are at home and there's no parent around," Mahairhu said. 

She's not the only person frustrated with flights: Fort Nelson school trustee Bill Dolan shared his travel woes at a municipal meeting on March 24. 

He said he was away from the community for six days to attend two days' worth of meetings earlier this year. 

"My meetings were done late in the afternoon on Friday, spent a day in Vancouver. The next day, I got up to Prince George, but I had to stay overnight," he said. "The next morning, my flight was delayed, spent half the day in the airport, then it was cancelled. Flew to Vancouver on a different airline, flew back up to Fort St. John."

The only reason he was able to get home, Dolan said, is because a local contact connected him with someone who needed a vehicle driven to Fort Nelson, and he was able to drive there. 

"The schedule is limited, and it's inconvenient," he said. 

During that same meeting, Fort Nelson resident Mark Cripps said many seniors in the community have to travel outside the community for medical appointments, which is challenging when flights are being cancelled. 

"It's becoming harder and harder to live here," he said. 

Only one commercial airline flies in and out of Fort Nelson: Central Mountain Air, which services communities in B.C. and Alberta. 

'Industry-wide challenges'

In an emailed statement to CBC News, Central Mountain Air president Doug Mccrea said he is aware of concerns raised by people travelling in and out of the community. 

"Like many airlines, we are navigating industry-wide challenges, such as pilot constraints, which have impacted our scheduling and capacity," he said. "While these factors are multifaceted, we are actively working on solutions to enhance reliability and minimize future disruptions."

Mccrea did not expand on what those solutions might be.

But Mahairhu said it starts with scheduling fewer flights. 

"If they know they're short of pilots, maybe just do a flight twice a week instead of three times a week," she said, adding that there were no issues with cancellations when she was making the trek during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, Mahairhu wants the airline to stop cancelling flights at the last minute. 

"It would be nice if one or two days advance notice is given if the flight is cancelled."

During the March 24 meeting, council seemed to agree that something needed to be done, starting with a conversation with the airline. 

"The reliability issues are causing grief in our community," Mayor Rob Fraser said.