October/November 2008

Winter has arrived (or is knocking at the door) in much of the North and with the passage of my first anniversary at the helm of Canadian North I find this a good time to reflect back on the past year.

It has been a very busy twelve months. We introduced scheduled air service to the Qikiqtani. We increased the size of our Boeing 737 and Dash 8 fleets. We extended our Iqaluit - Ottawa service from five to seven days per week. We were awarded a proportionate share of the medical passenger transport flying by the Government of Nunavut and have added to our list of valued cargo and corporate customers. We toured many communities across the North to solicit feedback on our services and have just completed a review of our flight schedule which will prompt changes to better meet our customers' needs. We have participated in mining and oil and gas symposiums and attended a myriad of community events sponsored by the Airline. We have added our first Inuit Vice President to the company's organization and grown our contingent of beneficiary employees to over sixty. We have celebrated our ten years of Inuit and Inuvialuit ownership. And we have used our 737 combi aircraft as the venue for a first-in-history Rockin' the Runway music concert.

On the downside, and much beyond our control, we have seen oil prices rise to unprecedented levels and we have struggled with the delicate balancing act of monitoring the prices for our airfares and cargo products to cover increased fuel costs while minimizing the impact on demand for our services.

We have had our share of ups and downs (no pun intended!) but on reflection it has been an exciting and rewarding year. We have an excellent team at Canadian North and my hats go off to the more than 450 employees, as well as the extensive list of our contractors who have collectively worked to make Canadian North an airline for which I can honestly say I feel privileged to work.

In closing I would like to give my personal thanks to the devoted customers who choose Canadian North for their transportation needs and give you my commitment to work hard in the coming year to earn your ongoing loyalty.

Travel well.
Tracy Medve
President, Canadian North

President's Message Archives

• January/February 2010
• December 2009
• October/November 2009
• September 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• April/May 2009
• March 2009
• January/February 2009
• December 2008
• October/November 2008
• September 2008
• July 2008
• May/June 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• October 2007