City commits $350,000 to navigational software if WestJet comes to town
By Kyra Hoggan
City officials played a comparatively rich card in today’s bid to draw WestJet to the West Kootenay Regional Airport (WKRA) in Castlegar, promising to purchase $350,000 navigational software to reduce airport landing ceilings by 1,000 feet.
“We’ve been working on RNP (Registered Navigational Procedure) for ages – it will lower the ceiling to land from 2,800 feet to 1,800 feet and enhance reliability at our airport,” said mayor Lawrence Chernoff in a phone interview from Westjet’s Calgary campus this afternoon (Thursday). “Kamloops has it, Kelowna has it – WestJet uses it throughout their network.”
Chernoff said the plan has long been in the works, but they unveiled it to WestJet for the first time today, as one of 38 communities vying to bring WestJet on as a carrier.
“Absolutely they were excited – all thier fleet operates on RNP,” he said.
“We have the money in place,” he said, adding WKRA’s current carrier, Air Canada Jazz, will not benefit from the software unless they invest in compatability upgrades. “We’re having discussions with Air Canada also; we’re not putting all of our eggs in one basket.
“The goal is just to increase reliability and ensure planes can land, which will benefit travellers, businesses, everybody,” he said.
