Sarnia-Lambton officials are concerned about the reliability of city air service.
Chamber of Commerce President Shirley de Silva says they've received a number of calls from upset chamber members.
"A lot of the comments regarding the airport are surrounding the fact that some of the flights are cancelled, and the reliability of air travel out of Sarnia is not 100%, " says de Silva. "We have a task force that we've set up and we're hoping to look into the airport as a gateway into the area and seeing if there are ways there that we could help bring about improvements. We feel that adequate modes of transportation in and out of Sarnia are really important for business and when it comes to air travel that's really important because it's one of the most efficient ways of getting from one destination to another in the shortest amount of time, if the flights are reliable and efficient."
Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told BlackburnNews.com by email that adverse weather and air traffic control issues are the main causes of flight cancellations.
Mayor Mike Bradley, however, is skeptical about that, saying many Sarnians routinely drive to London to catch flights over concerns about the reliability of Sarnia's service.
"One wonders if it's an economic cancellation," he says. "But the fact is when you look at the NOVA project and all these biofuel companies who fly in, it's essential, you're not a first-class city if you don't have decent air service."
Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport Controller Rick Hughes says a number of factors have contributed to the high number of flight disruptions, but he says flights do not get cancelled shortly before takeoff because of a lack of passengers or for economic reasons.
"Any flight that's cancelled because of a lack of passengers is what they call a strategic cancellation, which is done way in advance, usually at the beginning of each month," he says. "We would get a notification at the beginning of the month of certain days that are weak so they'd cancel the flight. But on a particular time when, say there's a flight in two days, it won't get cancelled because of a lack of passengers."
Hughes also says a shortage of pilots across North America is causing flight disruptions.
He adds though, the number of passengers is actually trending higher, especially Americans in the summer months, with the value of the Canadian dollar right now.
Starting May 1, he says the number of weekday flights at Sarnia's airport will increase from four to seven per day.
-With files from Dave Dentinger
