East Coast Airways

Airline awaiting OK to take off

By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Wed, Nov 3 - 4:53 AM
East Coast Airways is still waiting for approval to operate scheduled flights in Atlantic Canada.

"We’re working with Transport Canada," Jay Hasson, the Halifax-based airline’s operations president, said in an interview Tuesday.

East Coast, a subsidiary of Alberta-based Integra Air Inc., announced last month that it planned to begin offering scheduled air service between Halifax, Yarmouth, Sydney, Charlottetown and Saint John on Nov. 1.

However, its flights can’t take off until Transport Canada approves amendments to Integra’s air operator certificate that would allow it to fly under the East Coast banner in Atlantic Canada.

Hasson said that approval is still in the works due to "complications" resulting from Transport Canada staff in Winnipeg working on another file involving a different air carrier.

"We touched base last night," he said, adding that he expected to hear more details Tuesday but couldn’t say when the airline might get permission to fly.

"We’ll get scheduled service but I don’t know what date," he said.

Hasson said East Coast took steps, including the use of charter aircraft, to accommodate about 15 passengers who were booked to fly on Nov. 1.

"Everybody has been taken care of," he said.

East Coast announced the scheduled flight delay on it website and has halted ticket sales until the regulatory issue is settled.

"There has been a tentative rescheduling of the Transport Canada review and we will continue to diligently work on moving this schedule forward with minimal delays," the website notice said.

Transport Canada spokeswoman Melanie Orlowski said Tuesday that staffing levels had nothing to do with the certificate amendment delay.

"Transport Canada has dedicated resources to work closely with Integra Air to ensure the company understands the regulatory requirements when requesting an amendment to their air operator certificate," she said via email.

"Integra Air may not offer new scheduled passenger service points in Atlantic Canada because, as of today, the company has still not submitted the required documentation for Transport Canada to review and approve the amendment to their air operator certificate."

David Rankin, executive director of the Yarmouth International Airport Corp., remained confident that East Coast will restore air service between Yarmouth and Halifax, which was shut down by another carrier last year.

"We’re all prepared here," he said Tuesday.

He applauded East Coast for bringing in a third-party charter to transport passengers who had already booked flights. "It was a goodwill gesture."

Hasson made the news on his own last month after it was disclosed by CBC Halifax that he and his wife Tina Simpkin, a CTV meteorologist, are being sued to settle a $600,000 loan from an Indiana bank to a helicopter company the couple once owned.

Hasson said the loan issue isn’t connected in any way to East Coast Airways and is in the hands of his lawyers.

"We’re dealing with that," he said Tuesday.

Hasson said the loan default may have arisen from a mistake in failing to remove the couple’s names from company documents when they sold the helicopter business.

( berskine@herald.ca)