OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE GANDER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY ENCORE Westjet Returns To Central Newfoundland MALE ENCHANCEMENT Travel help for those with a Y chromosome SURVEY SAYS Gander passengers dish on preferences RUNNING THE RUNWAY A brief history of strange incursions FREE MIDSIZE RANGER 2-PERSON FULL SIZE RANGER 3-PERSON ETX, 570 EFI 570 EFI, 900 EFI OR PLAY! from from $ $ $ $ All bi-weekly prices are listed AS LOW AS! 64 81 See Cara for more details! 9,999 bi-weekly 12,799 bi-weekly + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. RZR 2-PERSON 50” WIDE RZR S 2-PERSON 60” WIDE RZR 1000 XP 2- PERSON 570 EFI, 900 EFI 900 EFI Extreme Performance from from from $ $75 $ $105 $ $144 11,699 bi-weekly 16,699 bi-weekly 22,999 bi-weekly + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. MID-SIZE CREW 4-PERSON FULL SIZE CREW 5-6 PERSON RZR 4 4-PERSON 570 EFI 570 EFI, 900 EFI 900 EFI, 1000 EFI from from from $ $78 $ $92 $ $131 12,299 bi-weekly 14,599 bi-weekly 20,799 bi-weekly + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. SPORTSMAN 4X4 SPORTSMAN ACE & ACE 570 SPORTSMAN TOURING 2-UP ETX, 570 cc, 850 cc, 1000 570 XP, 850 XP, 1000 from from $ $59 $ $73 $ $73 6,799 bi-weekly 8,499 bi-weekly 8,499 bi-weekly + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. + Tax & License Tax & License Inc. Call Dale, Ford or Jamie for WE HAVE A CHOICECall Dale, Ford FOR yoursEVERYONE! today! or Jamie forSales & Service 451yours JAMES today! BLVD • GANDER • PHONE 651-3335 • FAX 651-2961 Call, Dale, Ford, Jamie or email: [email protected] Service Shane for yours today! Sales & • FAXVisit 651-2961 us online at: www.adventuresalesnfld.com 6940181 • PHONE 651-3335 Professional rider on a closed course.VD Do• GANDER not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability. Always wear a helmet and other safety apparel. Never drink and ride. ©2015 Polaris Industries Inc. 451 JAMES BL [email protected] email: adventur esalesnfld.com at: www.adventur Visit us online DEPARTURES GATE THINGS CONTAINED WITHIN: • No less than two references to megastar/couch jumper/devout scientologist Tom Cruise • Two Shawshank Redemption references • Two special appearances by President Jimmy Carter • A mathematically suspect estimate of how long it would take the world’s fastest man to sprint Gander’s longest runway • The location of Vietnam’s first high school • How $20 might get you a ‘suite’ deal in Las Vegas • What the ever-quotable Winston Churchill said about Gander • How long it takes to get the results of a home pregnancy test 4 24 28 36 16 TRAVEL TIPS FROM THE PACK FlyGander readers and friends contribute their very best travel tips, and explain why a selfie of your luggage and hotel room key is vastly better than one of your latest nail polish design. 18 SURVEY SAYS When is an appropriate time to wear a sombrero? Who has flown in a blimp, anyway? Is a hotel bed more comfortable than your bed? Gander Airport passengers weigh in on the pressing questions others were afraid to ask. 22 THEY SAID IT “We’re back in Gander, 24 AIMLESS GLOBAL WANDERING and it feels great. The An experiment in choosing travel destinations- randomly. aircraft is short haul, but we want to be here for the long haul.” – 36 THE BIG SHIFT Westjet Encore President The airport is hoping to move to a new home. Ferio Pugliese Why, how, and what will happen to the old one? Find us on the web at ganderairport.com STAY ENGAGED Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/ganderinternationalairport Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/ganderairport 1 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO any of Dominican Republic you have and Cuba for the better heard part of a decade. the news Their twice-weekly about summer service to To- Westjet’s return to ronto is well-received. In MGander with a long 2014, Sunwing inaugur- daily seasonal service ated its newest destin- to Toronto and, this summer, daily year-round ser- ation from Gander – Orlando. While other charter vice to Halifax aboard its Q400. operators balked at the opportunity, Sunwing brought This is welcome news for residents of Central the sunny south to our doorstep. Newfoundland, and well worth celebrating. Many All three of these airlines create jobs, buy local have told us they welcome the addition of a new products, and offer an important service to travelers. choice for their travel needs. It is because of these airlines, and due to the great I want to talk about what more choices means for us. patronage of local residents, that Gander’s passenger Westjet’s new service is a great addition to the numbers have doubled in just under a decade. We existing travel options from Gander. Air Canada has posted a further 6% growth last year. been committed to this market since its inception I was at conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as Trans Canada Airlines, through thick and thin. at which a senior network planning executive for an In recent years, they have made major addi- American airline was speaking on a panel. Airline tions to their service at Gander with larger planes, planners make the all-important business decisions new routes, and greater frequency. Sunwing Air- on where they fly. He was talking about seats and air lines has been offering a great direct service to the service and how both are perishable. 2 He said: “Communities need to understand is that I won’t evangelize why you might choose Gander, it’s not the airline’s service. It’s their service. We aren’t but let me leave you with three reasons: Walmart. We don’t build big buildings. If we aren’t If you are reading this, Gander Airport is likely making money, we just leave. We have wings.” closer than any other airport, so there is a matter of That might sound cold or crass, but it’s entirely convenience. true. Gander has cheaper long-term parking. Airlines exist solely to make money for owners The airport is run by and for the region, and your or shareholders. Where they don’t, they adjust their patronage by flying locally supports local jobs and strategy. Which means, they leave. companies. I have seen that. It is a hard day at an airport With new airlines and more choices, we are, as when the wind-down team is brought in, the staff is a greater community, given an opportunity to re- in tears, and the community loses an essential link. verse that trend. With that comes an opportunity I’ve seen it at my airport and at others. to grow the schedule at Gander and ensure people Many of you probably think that in airport have choices. management, it’s all about more airplanes, more I’ve said it a thousand times before, but it bears airlines, more seats, more destinations, and more repeating: if a flight from Gander meets your travel passengers. You wouldn’t be far off the truth. needs and budget, fly Gander. But to be honest, what airport managers want If not, happy travels. But by all means, look be- more than anything is airlines operating profitably fore you book. Gander Airport should be your first at their airports. Because it they aren’t profitable, choice. they won’t be there. The airline service agents, the ramp attendants, You’re probably wondering what this has to do the pilots, the security personnel, the air traffic con- you, especially if you don’t hold airline stock. The trol team, the equipment operators all hope we’ll be answer is that it has everything to do with you. a part of your travel plans. Put another way: where you choose to fly from As an airport, we can only do our best to compel has a very direct bearing on the future of air ser- airlines to serve a market by making a sound busi- vice at Gander Airport, the airport’s future, and the ness case for adding our great region to their route health of Central Newfoundland. network. It has long been a struggle that Central Newfound- As for your travel plans, the choice is yours. landers by the tens of thousands have gotten into their cars and driven off to fly from other airports, largely a function of ticket prices. Our own studies show that at least one third of Central Newfoundland residents fly from an airport other than Gander. Reg 3 cELEBRATED overwroughT e oneous GANDER AIRPORT In the beginning, there was a just a wooded plateau atop a lake without bottom and the faint whiff of opportunity in the air. he spot that would become Gan- Cabot’s arrival – carve something from an der Airport stood on the sweet spot expanse of nothing and forge a means in between Europe and the Americas one of the world’s extreme outposts. People and would be a virtual bridge across of the sea were reborn as people of the sky. Tcontinents. An airport here would be an With little more than a narrow gauge rail- enabler, a catalyst; it would give wings to road, the fishermen and loggers poured in transatlantic flight and bring a world divid- from the outports. They became plumbers, ed by geography that much closer together. electricians, and equipment operators once The airlines would be the blood, the North there was equipment to operate.