Blackcomb Aviation: The Beauty of Regional Expertise
Publish Date: January 2010
Like all BC based flight service providers, Blackcomb Aviation knew the 2010 Olympic Games would offer both opportunity and obligation. Opportunity would come through an increase in demand for flight services in multiple areas. Obligation would come through an infrastructure built to handle it. Planning for both started early.
Helicopters, flown by experienced camera pilots, would be needed for aerial filming. Private jets would be needed to bolster travel options for visitors arriving from all over the world. Essential service providers would need utility helicopters and pilots who had the specialized expertise necessary to help minimize interruption to service brought on by the realities of a west coast winter.
Emergency service providers would need aviation expertise to assist with medical evacuations. Ground transportation and security issues at airports and heliports across British Columbia would involve meticulous planning and cooperation with authorities at every level of government. It would be a party on the world stage but behind the scenes, a small army of British Columbians would be hard at work to make it happen. And in the staff meeting held shortly after Vancouver won the bid for 2010, Blackcomb's management team began making plans to be part of that little army.
The timing couldn't have been better.
"We had begun the process of expanding the company in 2005 and by 2006, we were well underway," said Blackcomb CEO, Sacha McLean. "Our intent was to combine the strengths of several highly respected BC aviation companies under one umbrella. In partnership with some of the best aviation entrepreneurs in the province – notably John Morris, founder of Omega Aviation, and Steve Flynn, founder of the Whistler-based Blackcomb Helicopters – things moved very quickly in the right direction."
The result was Blackcomb Aviation: a full service aviation company with a flight team of 70+ pilots, engineers and support staff, a fleet of 18 helicopters, 5 privately-owned jets and 2 Cessna single engine aircraft, and permanent bases of operation at Vancouver International Airport's South Terminal, Whistler, Squamish, Sechelt, Bridge River Valley and Victoria.
"The versatility of our fleet is among the many factors that sets us apart from our competitors," noted John Morris who is President and co-owner of Blackcomb Aviation in partnership with the McLean family of Vancouver. "Our customers appreciate the options and we appreciate our capacity to work so effectively in multiple industries. It's been a good formula for all concerned."
By 2009, Blackcomb Aviation successfully secured a number of key contracts to provide for aviation support for the 2010 Games. Taking nothing for granted, however, each opportunity was weighed carefully by management prior to bidding.
"We never assume we're automatically right for every opportunity," commented General Manager, Steve Flynn. "We take the time to understand the customer's needs before we roll out the red carpet. Our focus is on our mission statement – safety – respect – value. If we can meet our own criteria in those three areas, we proceed."
As founder of Blackcomb's world-renowned Whistler-based helicopter division and winner of a Governor General's Award for Bravery for his part in the rescue of windsurfer who had broken through the ice on Green Lake, Flynn speaks with the caution of a veteran in mountain flying operations. Working in Whistler since 1989, he has put together a remarkable group of pilots who know the geography of BC's Coastal Mountains as if it were their own backyard – which it is.
"For a BC based company like Blackcomb Aviation, the 2010 Games offers an opportunity to participate in one of the unique global events of our times," says Sacha McLean. "It's an opportunity we're well-prepared to meet at every level of our organization. We're looking forward to it."
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