I fly to Calgary every two weeks May through September on business.
My wife and I chose to try flying from Penticton to Calgary with the new WestJet service for an ongoing connection to our daughter in Ottawa for a Christmas visit. Simply stated I have to say that the airport is just not ready for increased usage.
Starting with the parking, there were simply not enough parking spaces. Some travellers had to leave their cars on grass verges. Too many lots were tied up by rental car companies.
I was horrified to find that the parking is under the management of one of the poorest customer service companies in the parking business. Travellers have to pay for the parking when they park. This could cause problems if flight delays or rerouting through Kelowna cause the paid ticket to expire. Perhaps the Penticton airport authorities should check out Kelowna’s long term parking payment system. Very customer friendly,-pay on the way out.
So into the departure check in area; cramped, small check-in area, all credit to WestJet staff for their patience to cope with the passenger numbers. Wash room facilities are totally inadequate at the peak times of a flight arrival and passengers checking in for outbound flight. Departure lounge is an over representation of a “lounge.” On our departure with a full flight, passengers were forced to stand up to 45 minutes before the boarding began. If you needed to use the washrooms you had to exit the “lounge” and then return back through the security check area again (remember to take your ID and boarding card with you).
With 60-plus passengers arriving and 60-plus waiting to depart there is inadequate room and I would question the safety from a fire perspective of those numbers in that small a room area.
Fortunately, the weather was good and we faced no coach transfer to or from Kelowna although the landing can be described fairly as an “exciting” experience due to low cloud. All credit to the captain.
In summary, Penticton is a very convenient departure for South Okanagan residents. Is it really ready for the traffic it has attracted? No.
I can forego the convenience of Penticton this summer. The facilities and operational expertise, the flight reliability, and more importantly flights with more practical schedules, strongly favour Kelowna airport for me. The federal government wants to pass off the responsibility of Penticton airport.
I am not surprised because it needs a lot of investment in upgrading facilities.
Peter Archer
Oliver
