the mayor is responsible for the price of air fares apparently

Flying past Winnipeg
Last year, I contacted Mayor Sam Katz's office about the unconscionably high airfares to/from Winnipeg and the U.S. The mayor's office contacted me and suggested I contact the airlines and complain. Maybe Winnipeg's economy doesn't need a boost from visitors?
My wife and I were planning on visiting family in Winnipeg in June. The airfare from Houston to Winnipeg is more than going from Houston to Amsterdam, Holland. Amazingly, the airfare from Minneapolis to Winnipeg, a less than 90-minute flight, is more than the fare from Houston to Winnipeg, a trip of over five hours. I can't help but think Winnipeg is getting unfair treatment from the airlines. I guess we won't be going to Winnipeg this summer.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/letters-March-16-.html

" I guess we won't be going to Winnipeg this summer"

Good...., that means we'll have the best summer ever now that no one wants to come here because it costs too much to fly in......good, more summer for me!

The cheapest airfare from Wpg to Minneapolis is about $750, one way.
Maybe we need access from more than 1 airline and some competition? Grand Forks to Las Vegas, $39, $49, $79 one way.

While airfares flying out of Winnipeg are fairly steep when compared to US rates, they're not as bad as some of the numbers being floated around. With a little pre-planning it's possible to get some decent rates flying from Winnipeg to the US and internationally....as long as you are flexible and willing to wait for sales. Normal prices from Winnipeg are nuts.

$750 one way to MSP? No way...just pulled it up on expedia for April and you can get $543 round trip taxes included. Typical prices for resort cities like Vegas can vary WIDELY....I've seen as low at $270 all inc. to as much as $650 from Winnipeg. Orlando ranges anywhere from $400 to $700 usually.

That said...our prices as still USUALLY retarded compared to the US. Personally if I need to book something more than 2-3 months in advance (and my dates are not flexible) I prefer to book out of the US (Fargo or MSP) as the prices available are much cheaper than even the sale (last minute) deals out of Winnipeg.

Case in point....tickets to Orlando from Winnipeg for the fall are averaging $650-700, flying out of Fargo your looking around $300, out of MSP...as low as $207..taxes included...CANADIAN.

another case in point... the american airlines are bailed out/go bankrupt every 5 to 7 years.

Deank wrote:another case in point... the american airlines are bailed out/go bankrupt every 5 to 7 years.

Touché!

Huzzah!

To bad we are not big enough to be a hub like Minneapolis. I remember when we were bigger then Minneapolis in the scheme of things .

Deank wrote:another case in point... the american airlines are bailed out/go bankrupt every 5 to 7 years.

So in essence we pay much more up front AND we still bailout our airlines...cough, Air Canada, cough!
http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2009/08/07/air-canada-bailout-buys-time---but-canada-inc-sells-out-to-forces-of-protectionism/page1

American's pay much less up front, and the tax payer ends up bailing out the occasional loser while many more just go belly up.

I think I'll take the latter as a consumer.

I say let's stop bailing these companies out entirely!

We need to open our skies in Canada. With just two national airlines there is a very good likelihood that were Air Canada to screw the pooch yet again out gutless governments would throw another pile o' cash at them. Yet Westjet seems quite capable of earning decent profit...

American airlines have tried to include Winnipeg, and found it not profitable .

Pavolo wrote:American airlines have tried to include Winnipeg, and found it not profitable .

Can you explain this please?

Forgot to mention that taxes also play a major part in the difference of the total cost of airfare in the US vs. flying out of Winnipeg. The taxes and fees for flights out of Fargo or Minneapolis are at least $100 less than flying out of Winnipeg. So essentially all our tickets are starting at least a $100 premium over flights from our neighbours to the south.

oh but its worth it , we got a completely refurbished old terminal which they finished fixing up just in time to build a new terminal......

They refurbished the old terminal? I sure couldn't see any difference in my last few trips through it lol.

heh.. starting in 1998 or something like that. they redid it. Then.. redid it again.. and then... started building the new one..

not huge changes.. but fairly costly ones for sure.

Besides the viewing lounge they added years ago I can't think of one noticable change to the actual terminal. Wasted money.

EdWin wrote:

Pavolo wrote:American airlines have tried to include Winnipeg, and found it not profitable .

Can you explain this please?

Denver Air I believe it was called and I think there have been 1 or 2 others flying to Denver . Not enough fares to make a go of it . They went to Denver because it was the least distance to a hub .

Um...Minneapolis is a much closer hub than Denver.

If they couldn't make a go of it, it's because no one wants to fly through Denver as a first stop unless they are going to the south west. Denver sucks for going to the east coast (it's over 1000 miles in the wrong direction) and is too far south for flights to the pacific north west. That leaves flights to places like LAX, Vegas, Phoenix and Texas as viable routes from Winnipeg through Denver.

Anything else and a stop over in MSP or O'hare is way, way more convienient

But the airlines from that hub were not interested .

What? Pav, sorry but your not making a lot of sense. There's plenty of American airlines (Delta, United etc.) operating out of Winnipeg flying to Minneapolis (Delta's main midwest hub). So who's not interested? The charter airlines? Low cost carriers? I'm assuming that's what your talking about.

If it is...well then any charter company trying to run flights from Winnipeg through Denver is just plain stupid for the reason's I mentioned above.

It's bad enough Air Canada uses Denver as their primary hub through the US which is why I would NEVER fly AC to the US unless I'm headed to Vegas and even then they are rarely the cheapest option.

Is Delta coming here, this I did not or was not aware of as I do not travel to the states often by air . Heh I never said I was an expert it was only an opinion on what knowledge I had .

Possibly landing fee's are less in Denver.

All the former NWA flights out of Winnipeg are now Delta fyi Pavolo. They've been merged for some time. NWA is no more, so all their aircraft, hubs and routes are now Delta.

Thats right I forgot about that .