Yukon Airline Feeling Impact as Harmony Air Grounded

The Yukon's Air North is feeling repercussions from a Vancouver-based airline's decision to end all scheduled flights by April 9.

Harmony Air flew to holiday destinations like Hawaii from Vancouver and Calgary, but it also had a two-year-old contract with Air North for services at the Vancouver Airport.

Air North president Joe Sparling said the loss of that income will mean "some layoffs" for Vancouver staff, but won't have a huge impact for the company.

"It was never a big part of our business," Sparling said. "It was a ground handling contract that we had in place to help us defray some of our fixed costs down in Vancouver, so we'll have to do without that. It will make a difference."

Harmony Air has given layoff notices to 350 employees and is now considering a different business model, possibly re-emerging as a charter carrier.

Two years ago, Harmony Air, which was launched four years ago by entrepreneur David Ho, flew into Whitehorse as part of a round-the-world promotional trip, carrying onboard guests that included celebrities like television show host Dr. Ruth.

It had hired martial arts actor Jackie Chan for its advertisements, along with star Vancouver chef Rob Feenie to create gourmet menus.

With its fleet of four aircraft, the airline said it would focus on top-notch customer service, but had trouble cracking the China market.

Harmony and Air North also had a deal to promote and sell package tours on the two airlines, but Sparling said those weren't real big sellers and won't have much of an impact on his bottom line.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.