Baffinland Iron Mines Corp has replaced struggling Chrono Aviation (NDL, Québec) with Summit Air Charters (SUT, Yellowknife) as the operator of charter flights to its Mary River mine, although the arrangement is currently a short-term one, Nunatsiaq News has reported.
The charter contract, arranged through Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. (a former part-owner of Chrono Aviation), was terminated due to the inadequate on-time performance of the previous carrier.
Duane Wilson, vice-president of Arctic Co-operatives, said that the decision to reevaluate the contract was driven by the poor financial standing of Chrono Aviation, which entered bankruptcy restructuring in early November. The development prompted the mine to question whether Chrono could continue to deliver the services as required.
"[It] has come to the conclusion that the answer to that is no and that they would be better served by the alternate carrier," Wilson said.
"This arrangement is a short-term solution while we work toward finalising a long-term plan," Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. spokesperson Peter Akman clarified.
Neither carrier responded to ch-aviation's request for comment.
Mary River does not have any scheduled services at this time.
Chrono Aviation owns two Beech 1900Ds and seven PC-12s. Its subsidiary Chrono Jet owns two B737-200s, one B737-200C, one B737-800(SF), and one DHC-8-100. In turn, Summit Air's fleet comprises two ARJ-85s, seven ARJ-100s, two ATR72-200s, three ATR72-200(F)s, four DHC-8-100s, one DHC-8-300, five Do228-200s, and two Shorts Skyvans.
