For almost 35 years, the Sahtu region’s North-Wright Airways has been serving Northerners.
Aviator Warren Wright launched the airline in 1986, when it became a new entity after he merged North-Wright Air and Nahanni Air Services, which had been in operation since the 1960s.
The airline, still owned by members of the Wright family, has grown a lot since 1986, taking on more routes across the NWT and partnering with Indigenous groups in the Sahtu, said operations manager Kyle Newhook.
Based in Norman Wells, North-Wright flies a range of passengers, including travellers, people going on shopping trips and business and medical passengers.
North-Wright generally offers two flights per day between communities in the Sahtu and to Yellowknife, Aklavik and Inuvik.
In the eight years that Newhook has with been the company, he has seen the Yellowknife-Deline route become the busiest by passenger volume.
“There could be a higher mix of business going in and out of the Deline area or it could be more passengers wanting to get out for leisure,” he said.
Industry change reduces pilot numbers
A significant change Newhook has witnessed over the years is a reduction in the number of pilots who choose to come and stay in the North.
When Newhook graduated from pilot school 12 years ago, many pilots commonly came to the North to get experience in the air before going back down south to work for a larger company.
“For some of the larger airlines, you need your airline transport licence. You can’t get that until you have (a designated) amount of flying hours. If you wanted to get experience faster than other people, you went North,” he explained.
Around 2013, airlines began modifying their requirements, which allowed pilots to get hired faster. That shortened the time many pilots spent in the North, going from three to four years pre-2013, to about two years after 2013.
“Then (pilots) go right into WestJet or Air Canada Jazz. Back in my day, you couldn’t do that. You had to put in more time. We’ve seen a massive change. So, we’ve been working to get more pilots to come North,” Newhook said.
Pandemic nose dive
But the biggest change and challenge Newhook has experienced at North-Wright is the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. It sharply reduced North-Wright’s passenger numbers and flights.
“It was almost black and white. If we were running at 75 per cent of capacity before the pandemic, we then went down to almost zero in first few months (after),” said Newhook. “It was devastating to everyone. We had to let go of almost half the staff – all in the name of trying to protect the North.”
A low level of activity ensued as people like judges, dentists and patients still needed to get to their appointments in larger centres, even during the hardest months of 2020.
Gradual return of business
The airline gradually began increasing its activity in June 2020.
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Last summer, North-Wright introduced more staycation and hiking and fishing trip packages in the Sahtu.
“We’re trying to bump those up more with the pandemic being what it is. With staycations, people don’t have to leave their own backyards (and can) travel without quarantining,” Newhook said.
Passenger levels and flight activity were back to about 65 per cent of normal before the N.J. Macpherson School outbreak in Yellowknife, when people changed their travel plans and things slowed down again.
North-Wright was also able to bring back many of the staff it laid off, but full normalcy won’t return until the pandemic is over, Newhook predicted.
Despite the pilot shortages and pandemic, Newhook appreciates that working for North-Wright feels more like being part of a family than working for a business.
“That’s probably been one of the most pleasurable things about operating here,” he said. “Being more of a family-based operator, I get to work closely with people. I’ve flown with them. The camaraderie is great and people are very goal-oriented. If it wasn’t for the people, I don’t think I would’ve been here this long.”
