Airline CEO supports runway expansion for Fond du Lac

The CEO of West Wind Aviation says he supports expansion of the runway at Fond du Lac airport.

Louie Mercredi, Chief of Fond du Lac Dene Nation, said last week that the runway is too short. Mercredi said he thinks it is partly to blame for a plane crash that killed one person in December 2017.

West Wind Aviation operates in the community as does its subsidiary Transwest Air. Michael Rodyniuk, West Wind's president and CEO, said if the Fond du Lac runway was lengthened to 5,000 feet and widened it would be aligned with other northern community airstrips like Stony Rapids and Buffalo Narrows.

"We always operate with safety as our priority. It is currently cost prohibitive to fly large aircraft into the community, because we can only fly a handful of people out," said Michael Rodyniuk President and CEO of West Wind Aviation.

"The proposed improvements to Fond du Lac airfield would remove some of the unique issues created by the shorter runways."

Mercredi said the runway's size means only small planes can fly in and out of Fond du Lac. That rule came in after an investigation into the crash, although the cause of the crash has been blamed on inadequate de-icing.

The chief said the fly-in community is running low on food and other supplies because of the airport's pitfalls. 

The province owns and supervises the airport.

Disagreement over application process

Deputy Premier Gord Wyant said on Thursday that Fond du Lac expressed interest in securing federal funding allocated through the province, but never submitted a formal application to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) by the June 20 deadline.

Wyant said the airport project would've been a strong contender, but the application needed to be forwarded to the federal government, which is contributing $896 million through the ICIP over the next 10 years.

"Fond du Lac wasn't on that list because we didn't have an application," said Wyant. "In fact, we still haven't received a formal application from the band for that project." 

Mercredi said an application was submitted but was returned for some changes to be made. 

"We're not a priority. They are prioritizing wastewater, landfills, swimming pools," said Mercredi. "What is more important than human lives?"

The federal government announced it would provide $12 million for the community to upgrade the Fond du Lac airport back in February.

Mercredi said the First Nation needs $30 to 35 million on top of that to complete the project.