By Michael Gorman
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
The audit of Starlink Aviation’s Yarmouth operation remains ongoing.
David Rankin, executive director of the Yarmouth airport said that although they are nearing the end of the process, there is still work to be done.
Talk of an audit first started in January. In May it was thought things were two to three weeks away from being completed. The reality is, however, things are taking longer than they expected.
“There definitely was a little more to do (than anticipated),” said Rankin. “I don’t think any of us realized how much (data) there would be.”
At the moment, confirmation letters are going out to a sampling of customers who used Starlink’s service while it was in Yarmouth. The letters ask people when they travelled and the cost of the ticket to confirm that is what the data reflects.
“Once we have that from a sampling of customers then they’ll be able to conclude the report,” said Rankin, adding that there are almost 6,000 records of people flying with Starlink.
Although he said it’s too early to make any firm comments on the audit process, which is being handled by Grant Thorton, Rankin said so far things are matching up.
“I think what we’ve seen so far is the records we have match what they billed.”
That audit of the service is the result of a request from the NDP provincial government’s department of economic and rural development.
Starlink, which provided air service to Halifax and Portland, Maine, stopped service towards the end of 2009 when a $2-million government development fund ran out.
The fund was intended to help the company during months in which it didn’t break even while Starlink would pay back into the fund in months they turned a profit.
However, the company didn’t ever turn a profit and less than a year after starting the operation, both the fund and the service were gone. Yarmouth now has air service to Portland through Twin Cities Air Service.
