Stephenville authority airs financial issues in letter to premier about provincial support

The Stephenville Airport Corporation has written Premier Andrew Furey to question the level of financial support provided by the province and highlight challenges facing the operation on Newfoundland's west coast.

"As a corporation, we have to plan as though we are going to be the owner/operator indefinitely," SAC chair Trevor Murphy wrote in the letter, dated Feb. 23.

"This means that we must engage with our airline partners and attempt to secure flights and services to generate revenue; however, we are not being given the same opportunities as our colleagues in the province."

Earlier that month, Furey announced $1 million to be divvied up between airports in Deer Lake, Gander and St. John's to assist them in re-establishing routes that were cancelled or reduced over the past two years because of the pandemic.

At the time, the premier said they were the only airports that applied for the funding.

In his letter to Furey, Murphy noted that Stephenville has not had scheduled passenger service since January 2020, and has been hampered by COVID-19 and ongoing travel restrictions in its efforts to re-establish prior routes run by Sunwing and Porter.

Sunwing has announced a weekly service to Toronto from Stephenville this summer, scheduled to begin in late June.

Murphy acknowledged that the government has guaranteed a line of credit for the airport, and called it "critical to our business survival."

But he noted that it is used to fund operations, and doesn't afford them the opportunity to market the airport or spend to attract services. He added that the amount has been flat since 2017.

And there are more financial woes on the horizon.

"SAC has experienced a significant operating deficit over the past two years, which has been mitigated by the federal wage subsidy program," the letter noted."Unfortunately for SAC, that program has now ended."

Murphy noted ongoing negotiations about selling the airport to a private firm andwrote that the airport authority is "cognizant of the concern which probably exists at the government level, i.e. that the money would find its way into the hands of a privately held firm if given to SAC."

Murphy stressed in the letter, however, that Stephenville operatesunder the same ownership and governance structure as the airport in Deer Lake.

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CBC News obtained the partially redacted letter via an access-to-information request to the premier's office.

Murphy declined a taped interview request.

He indicated the Stephenville authority did not know of any way to apply for the provincial air access money and heard about it only after the fact.

Murphy would not say whether airport officials have been in contact with the province since the letter was written more than a month ago.

The premier's office said there haven't been any interactions between officials there and at the airport corporation since.

No timeline for potential Dymond deal

Last September, the airport was thrown a lifeline, with the announcement of ambitious plans to reinvigorate it.

Dymond Group of Companies CEO Carl Dymond said $200 million in private cash would be poured into the Stephenville operation, after its acquisition.

His vision for the airport includes the return of passenger service, the establishment of a manufacturing facility for massive cargo drones, and the creation of thousands of jobs.

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The initial deadline for the deal to close passed more than three months ago.

Murphy would not get into the details of the current status of talks, and indicated there is no timeline at this point for a potential agreement to be finalized.

In February, Carl Dymond also declined interview requests, saying he would answer questions after the deal closes.

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