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A final approach?

30 years after the Pemberton Airport began as a dirt strip its future is still up for debate, and study
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The Pemberton Airport began as a gravel strip 30 years ago. The strip's now paved.

Imagine that you are flying your small airplane to Whistler for a vacation and the closest airport is Pemberton. You have called the Pemberton airport ahead of time to make arrangements to have the runway cleared of snow, at your own expense. Not long after as you begin your descent in the long narrow valley, you realize there is too much fog to land safely. You change your plans and fly on to Vancouver.

This situation is a common occurrence in winter, according to Rudy Rozsypalek, owner of the Pemberton Soaring Centre, who has been operating aircraft at the Pemberton airport for 14 years.

“We have a great deal of adverse weather during the winter months here in Pemberton,” he said. He is skeptical of plans by the Village of Pemberton Council to expand the airport to allow regular scheduled flight service into the valley. “Too many foggy days in a very narrow valley,” he says.

The result? Very few pilots fly to Pemberton in the winter months. While it is not impossible to land planes in Pemberton in winter, a scheduled service is difficult if you don’t know what the weather is going to do. Why take the chance if you may not be able to land?

“It may be a question of ‘If you build it, they will come’,” said Pemberton Search and Rescue member Russell McNolty. “The village has spent $100,000 on studies. Why not spend that money on making the airport work instead of grants to study the airport, which basically tell you that the airport needs a reliable fuel supply and a regularly plowed runway? Anyone on the street could have told them that, let alone a $100,000 study.”

While Rozsypalek acknowledges that regular flight service may not become a reality (“If there was money to be made, it would be happening already!”), he would like to see improvements to the airport. The municipal facility currently operates at a loss to the village.

“It is an obvious challenge to support idle assets,” said Councillor Jennie Helmer. “We have limited resources and many competing interests.”

Sheena Fraser, the Village of Pemberton’s Deputy Clerk, said that in past town meetings, “the general consensus is that the residents of Pemberton would like to see the airport expand.”

The question revolves around the extent of expansion. There have been numerous studies conducted over the years. Most recently, an archaeological study, to determine whether the airport lands are of a culturally sensitive nature to the Lil’wat Nation (it was determined that part of the airport lands are, which will likely lead to further studies), was published in October. A study by InterVistas of Vancouver was also done recently to determine whether scheduled flight service to the valley would be feasible.

So what are stakeholders waiting for next? The results of yet another study, called a Project Definition Report, being conducted by PDK Airport Planners Inc. of Richmond. That study will identify the costs and infrastructure requirements that various-sized aircraft will need to fly into the Pemberton airport. That includes anything from length of runway necessary, lighting, de-icing equipment, pre-load requirements, etc., said Fraser.

The pertinent question for many Pembertonians, however, regardless of whether they live in the valley, is whether the question of flying 737s is still on the table. The InterVistas report stated that with the right technology in place, flying 737s into the valley “is a possibility.”

“Anything is possible with the right technology and money,” said Councillor Helmer. “But we as a community must decide what is right for us, not InterVistas.”

A Mount Currie elder, who asked to speak anonymously, said the general consensus on the reserve is opposition to airport expansion. “The planes would be flying right over our heads,” she said, referring to the proposed flight path, which would have aircraft taking off and landing over Lillooet Lake.

Regardless of what changes are made at the airport, Helmer says that council is unified on the fact that the airport is “costing more to maintain than the revenues it is earning; this issue needs to be addressed.”

The Pemberton Airport has been in existence in some form since 1978, when the Pemberton Flying Club, through hours of volunteer effort, constructed a dirt strip at the current site. Improvements took place over time, from paving the runway to installing an expensive, but now defunct, navigational system. Numerous plans have been undertaken with millions of dollars of governments grants received, conceivably in the name of getting flights to service the Whistler market, but nothing lasting has transpired. The 2010 Olympics are likely behind the most recent push for regular flight service to the valley, and the funding that may go with it. In the last year the Pemberton Regional Airport Authority was established with the mandate to “develop, maintain and operate” the Pemberton Valley Airport. But all the studies, authorities and interested parties won’t change some basic facts.

“No matter how much money you throw at the situation, Pemberton’s weather is not going to change,” said Rozsypalek wryly. The answer to all the fog and adverse weather in wintertime (presumably, when flight demand would be highest to serve the Whistler skier market) is RNP technology, which stands for Required Navigation Performance, a global positioning system that is in place on some aircraft, including Boeing 737s. Both airport and landing aircraft need to be equipped with this system, which can allow pilots to navigate an approach in adverse weather conditions such as fog. However, a limitation of the system for landing aircraft is that it requires good visibility from 300 feet above the runway to the runway below.

According to Rozsypalek, this is a problem for the Pemberton valley. “Half the days in the months of December and January, visibility is too low to fly fixed wing aircraft to and from the Pemberton Airport.”

Compounding the problem is that the airport in winter “gets very little sunlight.” Rozsypalek said temperatures at the airport are “always a couple of degrees cooler at the airport that in the village itself.” The lack of sun means the runway stays icy from November to mid-February, Rozsypalek estimates.

“Anything can happen with money,” he continues. “But investors want a return for their money. They aren’t just going to throw it away.”

What Rozsypalek would like to see at the airport is more activity and more facilities to support general aviation. “Right now we don’t even have a bathroom,” he said. “People fly in here, and they have to stay in their planes to keep warm and go outside and pee in the bushes. There is a perfectly good airport building (owned by Prime Air but not in use) but it is locked. Lillooet has a nicer airport than we have. That airport is equipped with an automated fuel service, a waiting room with bathrooms, a coffee machine and a couple of beds for any pilot who might get stuck due to weather conditions, and it’s available 24 hours a day.”

Rozsypalek is also dissatisfied that currently, no one can build a hangar to keep a private plane at the airport. “They have to keep them at airports like Pitt Meadows,” he said.

Peter Timms, Director of the Pemberton Flying Club agrees. “People living in Pemberton and Whistler with their own planes would love to keep them closer to home.”

Allen McEwen, a farmer in Pemberton, would like to see more done with the airport in its current state than spend more money on studies and threaten the peace and tranquility that he believes is one of Pemberton’s greatest assets. He is also concerned that the studies recently commissioned by the Village of Pemberton regarding possible airport expansion are “extremely biased” representing special interests, “not those of valley residents.” McEwen would like to see an economically viable airport by allowing business to set up shop at the airport, which will enable the facility to support itself.

Chuck Blaylock, a retired Air Canada 747 pilot living in Whistler, had that very idea years ago. “I proposed back in the ’70s having a local program for kids to learn aircraft engineering,” Blaylock said. “The Pemberton municipal council at the time was asleep when I presented the idea to them.

“It would be a good opportunity for the kids in Mount Currie, for example, to learn this skill,” he continued. “They could take it anywhere.

“The people who are optimistic about expanding the airport are in the business community,” Blaylock emphasized. “It is all fine to expand the airport but who is going to maintain it after the Olympic activities are over? It is a huge undertaking.”

Blaylock brings up shoulder season to make the point that scheduled air service may not be viable. “Look in a Whistler restaurant in November or mid-December,” he said. “Half the seats are empty. How can you justify the expense of bringing large planes in here when Whistler is not running at full capacity?

“They are spending umpteen millions of dollars on the highway to get people up here faster. Is the expense to expand the airport justified? I know many retired pilots who live around here who laugh when the subject of bringing large aircraft into Pemberton is raised.

“Maintenance expenses are huge: who is going to keep the runway clear? There's de-icing equipment, there is customs if aircraft are coming in from the U.S., there's security personnel.”

Blaylock also cites a recent British study that may further sour the Pemberton community on allowing larger aircraft to operate in and out of the valley: the study showed the adverse effects of planes taking off and landing at a school near an airport.

“The study showed the kids who graduated were a year or more behind in learning in comparison to other students attending other schools,” he said. “The reason was that whenever a plane landed or took off, work stopped. The teachers had to stop their lessons, kids stopped doing their projects because the noise was so great. I wouldn't want to be living in Pemberton Meadows if they open it up (to large jets).”

Sheena Fraser insists that flying 737s into Pemberton is “not going to happen.

“It’s a tricky place to land,” she said. “We’ve been told by WestJet that it is possible but we don’t have the market for it.”

Stuart Rempel, vice president of sales and marketing for Whistler-Blackcomb disagrees with Fraser. “There is a market for it. We have been told that by both WestJet and Horizon, who made presentations to council. With the right technical support, it could happen. It is just up to the people of Pemberton to decide if they want (it) or not.”

Rempel believes that for the airport to go ahead and be successful, larger planes are needed, least of all because that is how airport expansion will get funding at the federal and provincial level. “You can’t just fly in planes with a capacity of 18 to 30 people. Otherwise the return on investment to the community is not worth it.”

Adding to the debate is that many mid sized aircraft such as the Bombardier Q400 (which holds 68-78 passengers) does not have RNP technology, which is necessary to land in Pemberton. The larger 737s do have the technology and Rempel adds that the newer generation of 737s “have high bypass engines that make less noise” than the older models, and are “more fuel-efficient.”

Rempel would like to see regular service to Pemberton from Calgary and Seattle, which act as hubs from many other North American cities, bringing new visitors to the Sea to Sky region. “In flights from Seattle, for example, our studies show that only 5 per cent of passengers are actually from Seattle. The rest have used Seattle as a connection from other cities. This will bring a whole new market to the area.”

Rempel responds optimistically to the argument that Pembertonians would have to put up with increased noise and pollution in order for Whistler to have the benefit of regional air access. “The opportunities are there for Pemberton if there is an expanded airport. People who are entrepreneurial can set up adventure tourism businesses. People can drive shuttle buses, rental car businesses. It is up to the people of Pemberton to take advantage of this opportunity. In one fell swoop it could be a significant economic driver for the region.”

Rempel adds that the other benefit for Pemberton residents would be not only people flying into Pemberton, but the fact that they will fly out as well. People in Whistler and Pemberton could fly out of Pemberton and connect to flights out of Calgary or Seattle. “I would much rather get to Toronto by flying from Pemberton to Calgary first, and avoid the Sea to Sky Highway altogether.”

Rempel concludes that if regular flight service does go ahead, “Whistler-Blackcomb is prepared to support the efforts 100 per cent to make commercial service a success. That’s the guarantee we will make and we have significant clout in the marketplace and around the world.”

That support would likely have to include the pre-purchase of some seats, as happens at many American ski towns, before an airline would make the commitment to regularly scheduled flights into Pemberton.

While the people of Pemberton wait for the next study, Merlin Air recently announced that it would commence charter air service from Pemberton in small single- and twin-engine aircraft as early next fall. With many people and interests involved in the debate, it is not the first time that such a service has been announced — nor is it likely to be the last word on air travel to Pemberton.



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