Wasaya Airways (WP, Pickle Lake) is faced with an uncertain future following reports the airline is only able to survive thanks to a “special loan” from its bank. Canada's APTN news says airline management warned shareholders - 12 chiefs representing First Nation tribes - at a recent meeting that the chiefs' excessive spending had resulted in the carrier racking up over CAD3.0million (USD2.6million) in debt.
The meeting also disclosed the results of an audit carried out by Hobbs and Associates which showed the airline had stalled financially between 2008-2012. The audit also revealed an unpaid tax bill of more than CAD1.1million owed to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Recommendations to implement a drastic cost-cutting restructuring plan to save the airline have also not been implemented, the report claimed.
A Transport Canada inspection of the airline's operations in 2013 also revealed "major violations" of the safety management system (SMS).
A second meeting is scheduled for this week to help thresh out a way forward.
The carrier operates a total of 27 aircraft including one Dash 8-100 and a Dash 8-300 as well as Beech 1900Ds, Cessna Caravans, Hawker 748s and PC-12s on flights to 26 remote communities in Ontario. It is a subsidiary of the Wasaya Group Inc. (WGI) whose other business interests include freight shipments, an MRO facility dubbed the Wasaya Prop Shop, and fuel runs from their headquarters in Thunder Bay.
