The Okanagan Sunday
If the rapid response to a recently formed Facebook group asking WestJet to bring air service to Penticton is any indication of public support, then the runway appears cleared for takeoff.
Penticton resident Rob Murphy said he formed the group last Monday night.
"The idea was on my mind probably since we moved here six years ago," said Murphy, noting he'd heard previous discussions the Calgary-based company was considering service to Penticton Regional Airport.
His interest was re-generated after he read it was considering the addition of a regional airline service.
"I started looking into that and I realized Penticton would be potentially one of the markets they would look at," said Murphy. "I thought, 'We should be maybe ahead of the curve, in terms of courting them again.'"
With the proliferation and influence of social media into the mainstream he felt Facebook was the perfect launching pad for his campaign. He added the names of a few key social media friends to the list, and it increased exponentially from that point.
As of Saturday morning, more than 600 people were part of the group.
"It's just one of those causes that makes sense to a lot of people. It's been very exciting for me to watch it take on its own life," he said. "I was surprised by the speed of the response."
The comment stream has been continuous throughout the week with hundreds of messages posted on the page.
"Long overdue. This will surely be an advantage to the Penticton and surrounding area. " said one woman.
"Bring on WestJet, what a better way to make our beautiful city accessible to tourists and open the doors for business," said another person.
An Oliver resident wrote the following: "Bringing Westjet to Penticton would be great. I fly from South Okanagan to Calgary every three or four months, so not having to go through Kelowna would be such a relief. It would save time and money as parking in Kelowna (is) very expensive and traffic a nightmare."
Even though any decision to come to Penticton would require assistance and input from city council and the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen, Murphy believes this type of "ground-level support does make a difference" in the eyes of WestJet.
"I think it's going to make a big difference. WestJet knows there are a number of people locally who want them here and there's a number of people in other destinations who would fly into here," he said.
In September of 2007, Pacific Coastal Airlines began offering daily flights to Vancouver and Calgary, however, the company pulled out of Penticton after about 16 months, citing low passenger numbers as the main reason.
Murphy feels flights would be different with WestJet compared to Pacific Coastal.
"I can't speak for their business plan, but I would have to think by the size of their company compared to the size of WestJet that WestJet has deeper pockets," he said, noting the company can project a long-term business plan that can better absorb the ups and downs of the economy.
Although Penticton is one of dozens of communities lobbying the company to introduce short-haul flights, Murphy believes the city has as good a chance as any place.
He corresponded with the company on Twitter and was told the company is paying attention to what's being said online by people in the community.
Murphy is encouraging support for bringing the airline to Penticton to either use the hash tag #WestJetPenticton or @WestJet in their tweets as much as possible.