Saskatoon airport bans Riide cabs over licensing, payment dispute

A well-known cab company has been legally barred from picking up or dropping off passengers at Saskatoon’s John G. Diefenbaker International Airport.

Riide is not paying the $2.60 pickup and dropoff fees required by the airport’s licensing program. As a result, an injunction was granted on Aug. 31 against Riide in provincial court.

A statement from the airport authority explained that “all commercial operators are required to remit fees back to the airport, which directly support our curbside program to ensure a safe, friendly, well-managed curb with reduced congestion.”

The statement noted that in August of 2020, Riide’s existing licence with the airport expired after a decision was made to move to an open licence format. That change allowed several other companies to pick up and drop off customers at the airport.

The authority said multiple attempts to bring Riide back to the airport have not succeeded.

Scott Suppes, Riide’s president and CEO, said his company – which was formerly known as United Cabs – had an exclusive contract with the airport authority for nearly 50 years until the move to the open licence system.

“We didn’t perceive value in that,” he said. “We paid them quite handsomely over the years, and provided the service because there was some value in being an exclusive provider. When they decided to make it an open thing, we decided we weren’t going to participate in that because it didn’t make any sense for us.”

Suppes said when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, his company continued to pick up and drop off customers at the airport, and he claimed that in many cases no other company would do so.

Over the past few months, the airport has begun taking action against the cab company.

“Since August 2020, Riide has continued to operate on airport property unlicensed, meaning they are not remitting any collected fees to the airport, which has undermined the integrity of our commercial program, to which four other taxi operators are currently participating and abiding,” the airport authority explained.

Riide disputes this, saying the company submitted payment to the airport which was subsequently returned.

Scott Suppes, CEO of Riide, feels his company should at least be able to drop off passengers at Saskatoon’s airport. (Scott Suppes/Submitted)

Suppes said his vehicles aren’t using the designated cab curb next to the airport terminal, and are simply dropping and picking up passengers at the public curb if they’re specifically requested by customers.

“A few months back, (the airport) came and gave us a cease-and-desist letter saying ‘You guys have got to stop doing this,’ so we’re just providing service to our customers and dropping off like anybody else would,” he said. “We have a duty to the public to take them wherever they want to go.”

A civil lawsuit has been filed by the airport authority in the Court of King’s Bench.

“I don’t feel it’s good. It’s not good for customers. It’s not good for customers’ choice. If they want to choose to use us, they technically can’t by court order. It’s an unfortunate situation,” said Suppes.

Riide has since filed a response to the lawsuit, but a court date has not yet been set.

Suppes said the airport has also tried collecting between $20,000 and $30,000 in fees from Riide. For each pickup and each dropoff, the fee is $2.60.

“This is the airport’s take: ‘It’s my way or the highway.’ I still don’t feel that’s right,” he said. “To me, it seems more like a tax.”

Suppes said Riide can’t raise its rates to absorb the cost, because city bylaws prevent that. He wondered whether Uber drivers were paying the fee, and said the airport won’t reveal that to him.

Right now, he said his 130 cabs are providing service to other parts of the city, but he believes his company should at least be able to drop customers off at the airport.

“They really can’t prevent us from doing so. They’re a public entity like we are. We’re responsible to provide that public service. Saying you have to pay to drop somebody off at the airport is unreasonable, and there’s some rules and regulations around that,” he said.

The airport said customers can access the airport using four other companies, including Captain Taxi, Hey Taxi, Comfort Cabs and Radio Cabs, along with Uber and city transit service.

–Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include Riide’s claim that payment was submitted to the airport and returned.