Travel from YLW to Fort Mac Still Strong Despite Massive Oilfield Layoffs

Major layoffs were announced by several oil companies in January as the price of a barrel of oil plummeted across North America.

At the beginning of January, Shell Canada announced that 300 jobs would be cut at its Fort McMurray Operations, at the Albian Sands project. The two mines at the Athabasca Oil Sands Projects, Muskeg River Mine and Jackpine Mine were affected by the layoffs. About 10 per cent of the 3,000 employees at these mines were given pink slips.

Photo Credit: Suncor/File Photo

Just a few weeks later, Suncor announced 1,000 layoffs to its workforce in the Alberta oil sands as a result of the falling price of crude oil. The layoffs were expected to affect the contract workforce and a hiring freeze was implemented. The Suncor cuts are expected to save the company one billion dollars over the next two years.

More bad news came a week later when Halliburton and Baker Hughes announced the layoff of 7,000 oilfield workers from around the world. These layoffs were the result of the slumping oil prices as well and Canadian workers were expected to be affected as a result.

Photo Credit: YLW

With all of the layoffs and concerns in the oil industry residents in Kelowna were worried about their jobs, livelihoods and especially transportation. WestJet launched a non-stop daily flight between Kelowna and Fort McMurray in May, 2014 because of the high demand from workers. With approximately 5,000 people from the Okanagan commuting to northern Alberta the flight was well received.

But the layoffs in the north have not affected the non-stop flights according to the Canadian airline company.

“The Kelowna – Fort McMurray route is performing in accordance with the expectations we have for the route,” said Brie Thorsteinson Ogle, WestJet Media Relations Advisor. “There are no plans for a change in service at this time and that is a healthy reflection of the use of service offered.”

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com

The passenger count at Kelowna International Airport continues to increase and January, 2015 was no exception. YLW is one of the top 10 busiest airports in Canada and the third busiest in the province, and the economic slump in Fort McMurray has so far not affected travel to and from the airport. For now, there is good news for those that live in the Okanagan and travel north for work, and WestJet is confident that the trend will continue and its flights will not be affected by the recent layoffs.