News - Stephenville International Airport

Dear Editor: Stephenville airport is vital to the quality of life of all our citizens and its services are most appreciated when there are critical needs to be met.

To lose these services is a step back in time and in growth. In 1998, the provincial government handed the airport over to the Stephenville Airport Corporation (SAC) with about $2.4 million.

The infrastructure consisted of crews, trucks, flights, marketing budgets and most importantly a choice of fuelling companies with, what seemed to be, an unlimited supply of fuel and customers. In 2003, the government facilitated a $240,000 land sale from the corporation to the town. As part of the deal, a study was completed with the airport being recognized as a viable entity.

However, it was not long before its viability was threatened. In 2005, to assist the corporation with its growing deficit, SAC employees gave in good faith to avoid closure of the airport a 30 per cent reduction in salary ($10 an below a town labourer) with the hope that this would be temporary.

They believed that this would give the board time to create a vision for the future of the Stephenville airport that would move these necessary services from places of jeopardy.

At that point in time the infrastructure was in crisis with drastic reductions. Crews and trucks were reduced, there was only one scheduled flight, next to no marketing and more importantly very limited fuel, and not enough income to pay its creditors.

Stephenville Airport Corporation met to consider bankruptcy proceedings owing more than a million dollars to about 100 businesses, the largest debt being to the Town of Stephenville for $400,000.

The responsibility for the fate of the airport remains with all of us. The Stephenville Airport Corporation can only be as strong as its leadership. It can only recommend changes to the board, while recognizing that it has no power to implement. The Stephenville Airport Corporation consists of an airport manager, operations manager and office manager, people who truly understand the operations of the corporation but collectively have no vote on a board that can have as high as nine directors, thus nine votes. This board is the controlling power of the corporation and consists of local business people, a government representative and a town representative.

Because there is a $400,000 liability with the town, many hint of the perceived power imbalance within this structure.

Since the “spending years,” the airport has moved from a million-plus budget to operating for the past three years on a $350,000 government guaranteed line of credit.

Because the financially lucrative restoration of fuel supply was never brought to fruition, SAC is now running a deficit.

Running the airport without a fuel supply is like running a gas station without gas. We need more tanks to meet the demand of fuel when it is required, a small price to pay if you are in critical condition and need to be flown to St. John’s. On many occasions, hundreds of thousands of dollars profit in sales are lost because fuel was not available.

Recently, a $148,000 profit could have been realized in one night if fuel had been available.

It is important for all of us to know that not everything at the airport is fine. Without support, the airport is on the verge of closure in the short term. This airport is part of who we are and must continue. Not only has it saved many lives through its medical evacuation services over the years and enabled our community to deal with life and death situations in reasonable amounts of time — it provides employment to more than 60 employees and tenants.

Without our airport, people who travel daily to St. John’s will have to travel to Deer Lake.

Any dreams of a flight to and from Halifax and Fort McMurray will become unrealistic.

Local businesses, health care (delivery of life saving blood) and all organizations will be seriously impacted if we have to struggle without an airport.

A closure would alienate future investors and the proposed buyer “KAZ” from the United States who is interested in purchasing it as an airport.

The district needs to ask the Town of Stephenville and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador to continue to support the airport. The people need to contact their government representatives and speak to them about this.

I am asking these representatives to support our airport as it provides life blood to our communities.

Not to take sides is to take sides. We need to keep doing more until it is enough to make a difference and bring our airport once again on solid ground.

This airport is not only important for the growth of our economy, it is important for supporting businesses from going elsewhere and most importantly from discouraging our greatest resource — our people — from moving elsewhere.

Michael McCann (CD) is a retired air force mediator for DND and CAF and is a Stephenville Airport Corporation Board employee and tenant representative