{"id":11041,"date":"2023-12-19T10:01:38","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T07:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=11041"},"modified":"2023-12-19T10:01:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T07:01:38","slug":"norman-wells-n-w-t-is-running-out-of-aviation-fuel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=11041","title":{"rendered":"Norman Wells, N.W.T., is running out of aviation fuel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Air aviation news – The town of Norman Wells, N.W.T., is running low on aviation fuel \u2014 forcing some airlines to make adjustments and possibly throwing a wrench in people’s holiday travel plans.<\/p>\n

Pascal Audet, the town’s deputy mayor, says it’s because\u00a0low water on the Mackenzie River<\/a>\u00a0this year, along with the summer wildfires, disrupted the normal shipment of fuel to the community.<\/p>\n

“It was kind of a double whammy there of of natural disasters so to speak, and that caused us not to get resupplied correctly,” Audet\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

“And here we are now, we’ve got a shortage of jet fuel now because of that.”<\/p>\n

Norman Wells is about 700 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife and not accessible year-round by road, so many local supplies are shipped by seasonal barge on the Mackenzie \u2014 including aviation fuel. A winter road to the community is not yet open for this year, and it’s not expected to open to large trucks for several more weeks.<\/p>\n

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\"Barge<\/div>
A resupply barge arrives in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., in September. While that vessel managed to make its deliveries, late season barges to Tulita and Norman Wells, N.W.T., were cancelled due to low water in the Mackenzie River.\u00a0(N.W.T. government)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The shrinking supply of aviation fuel came as a surprise last week to North-Wright Airways, a regional airline that’s based in Norman Wells. Company president Travis Wright said he was notified by email on Dec. 7.<\/p>\n

“It was quite a shock,” Wright said.<\/p>\n

“Obviously our core business is here in Norman Wells, and we need fuel for airplanes to operate throughout the Sahtu region, and down to and from Yellowknife.”<\/p>\n

Wright said the fuel supplier, Imperial Oil,\u00a0told the affected airlines that fuel would be rationed in Norman Wells until the winter road is open to allow for resupply to the community.<\/p>\n

North-Wright’s ration is not nearly enough to maintain its regular service, Wright said. That means the company’s planes need to carry more fuel from Yellowknife, and therefore less cargo or fewer passengers.<\/p>\n

“Everyone’s traveling, has more stuff. People are visiting families, getting ready for the Christmas holiday season \u2014 and you know,\u00a0they don’t need this,” Wright said.<\/p>\n

“We’re losing and bleeding money daily, for\u00a0us losing charters that we have already had booked that we cannot do.”<\/p>\n

According to Wright, it’s a problem that could affect any airlines that fly in the N.W.T. and Yukon, if they go to Norman Wells or even use it as an alternate location for refueling. Those airlines will have to adjust their schedules too, he said.<\/p>\n

Devin Lyall, chief pilot of Yellowknife-based Summit Air, agreed that the fuel shortage in Norman Wells came as a “total shock,” and that it’s already having an impact on business. The airline typically delivers groceries to communities in the Sahtu, and refuels in Norman Wells.<\/p>\n

“We now have to tanker more fuel out of the Yellowknife\u00a0which, you know, we can only take so many pounds of fuel or cargo. So the more fuel we have to take, the less freight we get to take,” Lyall said.<\/p>\n

Groceries will still get to the communities, he said, but it may require more flights.<\/p>\n

“We’re still going to find a way to get them there, but they might take a little longer than before,” he said.<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement to CBC News, an Imperial Oil spokesperson said the company was aware of the issue in Norman Wells.<\/p>\n

“We notified our sole customer, World Fuel Services, who provides fuel to the airlines in Norman Wells,” the statement reads.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/div>
The Imperial Oil plant in Norman Wells in July 2022. The company says it is meeting with local officials to ‘discuss interim solutions until the winter roads open.’\u00a0(Liny Lamberink\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

“Norman Wells can’t be serviced by traditional supply chain methods until the winter roads open so alternate sources of supply are currently being explored. Imperial is meeting with local leaders and government to discuss interim solutions until the winter roads open.”<\/p>\n

Infrastructure department ‘facilitating meetings’<\/h2>\n

Tracy St. Denis, assistant deputy minister with the territory’s department of infrastructure, said the Marine Transportation Service (MTS) was able to get three out of four barges to Norman Wells this year, with a million litres of aviation fuel, but the last barge\u00a0didn’t make it.<\/p>\n

“So as I understand it, what we have now is a bit of a gap between the aviation fuel they have on hand and then what will get resupplied,” she said.<\/p>\n

St. Denis said the territorial government also just found out about the problem a little over a week ago.<\/p>\n

“At this point, we’ve\u00a0seen ourselves playing a key role in facilitating some discussions between industry aviation companies and the Sahtu\u00a0leadership,” St. Denis said.<\/p>\n

“We’re assisting with facilitating meetings.”<\/p>\n

Travis Wright, of North-Wright Airways, said he understands why there’s a fuel\u00a0shortage in Norman Wells, because of what happened this summer with the wildfire evacuations and the historic low water levels on the Mackenzie.<\/p>\n

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