Blue & White Turns Silver

At the risk of stretching the matrimonial metaphor, Helijet first few years were no honeymoon. To many in the aviation industry, the idea of a scheduled IFR (instrument flight rules) helicopter service between Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., seemed foolhardy, if not reckless. Making matters worse, financiers showed Helijet all the warmth of disapproving in-laws.

We were really out there’ as a company doing something totally different, said Danny Sitnam, Helijet president and CEO. A lot of operators just stood back and waited for us to take a monster fall. With a knowing smile, he added, You definitely wouldn’t want to pitch a business idea like this on [CBC Television] Dragons’ Den. 

Nevertheless, a combination of determination, superior service, and market agility allowed Helijet to find its feet and ultimately prosper where so many expected it to fail.

It goes without saying that a company has to survive before it can thrive, and the dismal history of scheduled helicopter services suggested Helijet chances of success were slim from the outset.

Indeed, there are now fewer than a dozen carriers worldwide providing scheduled service with helicopters, and every attempt in U.S. cities, such as New York and San Francisco, faltered for a variety of reasons  most often high operating costs, tight profit margins and fragile markets. How then could Helijet presume to succeed where others stumbled?

That question might have been on the minds of Sitnam and his founding partners, Alistair MacLennan and Stewart Vorberg, on Nov. 27, 1986, when Helijet inaugural flight with a Bell 412 lifted off from Vancouver Harbour, bound for Victoria with only one advance booking.

We didn’t know what we had gotten ourselves into; we were totally unrealistic in our expectations and how much it would cost, said Sitnam. When our service started there was apprehension because it was seen as so new and so unique. We lost tremendous amounts of money in the first six months. It was disturbing.

Still, Sitnam persevered because he genuinely believed in the program: I knew we could succeed by doing better in terms of sales, marketing, service and operational standards. That what got me out of bed in the morning. He added, In business you have to believe in yourself and stare the devil in the face sometimes, and not be afraid of failure.

Faith and determination eventually paid off. During the first couple years of operations, Helijet blue and white helicopters became a familiar sight in the Vancouver-Victoria corridor, which had previously been dominated by VFR (visual flight rules) seaplanes. Word-of-mouth spread, particularly among influential customers in B.C. business community and provincial government. These highly-mobile executives were quick to appreciate the enhanced safety and reliability offered by Helijet multi-crew, multi-engine, IFR-capable helicopters, which, unlike seaplanes, were not limited by daylight hours and the dreadful IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) weather for which the Pacific Northwest is infamous.

We were able to provide uneventful flights and a better overall customer experience, said Sitnam. Once people experienced the comfortable ride, it became our biggest sales tool.

The ability to provide IFR service to the business community after general business hours and in inclement weather contributed to Helijet initial success, but several other related factors have combined to make the Vancouver-Victoria scheduled service viable. 

The first is geography. Vancouver and Victoria are separated by a large body of water that takes hours to cross by ferry. With no bridge or tunnel connecting the two, air travel is the only alternative. 

Second, the distance between both cities is almost ideal for scheduled helicopter service. At just over 60 miles, harbour to harbour, the distance is optimal for an S-76A operating near sea level at full passenger loads while still being able to tanker fuel. 

Third is the fact that Helijet holds long-term leases on the downtown harbour heliports in Vancouver and Victoria, and actually maintains and operates both to Transport Canada aerodrome standards, on behalf of the Port Authorities. With its locations assured, Helijet doesn’t have the uncertainty of temporary short-term leases hanging over its head.

Finally, and most important, is the passenger demographic. Helijet serves a specific clientele of time-sensitive executives in business and government who regularly need to commute without delay between the seat of government and the biggest metropolis in the province. These people know they can show up five minutes before boarding, stress-free.

And while a few vocal critics regularly complain about helicopter travel as a decadent perk for politicians and senior executives, Sitnam said the reality is that Helijet provides glorified bus service for the province business community.

Shuttle bus, perhaps, but the Helijet brand is synonymous with superior service. Be it the complimentary coffee bar, the hotel shuttle, or the tireless professionalism of front-counter staff, Helijet continually strives to meet and exceed the level of comfort and convenience expected by executive travellers.

We’ve succeeded for 25 years because of the standard of service we provide, said Carla Kovacs, Helijet director, passenger services. With deserved satisfaction, she added, part of my job is to deal with customer complaints, yet we rarely get them. We make a point of noticing minor details and addressing them before they become a problem, to make sure the customer experience is top-notch.

Of course, a lot of companies talk about service, but Helijet reputation depends on being able to walk the talk every single day. As such, the company espouses a corporate philosophy that puts a premium on the treatment of people in general, be they customers, co-workers or community residents.

Kovacs believes Helijet high level of customer satisfaction is rooted in the respect the company shows its employees and the autonomy they are afforded: There is a continuous drive to empower employees and allow them to do their jobs, with the knowledge that management has faith in them, and will respect their decisions. When problems arise we trust the decision-making of our people. No one ever has to say, let me check with my manager.’ She added, If you don’t respect your staff, you have a formula that doesn’t work.

Across the board, Helijet management team recognizes that employees who feel respected and appreciated will be more committed to the company success.

Our employees care: they come to work because they like their jobs and they care about what happens to the company, said Kovacs. 

This explains, in part, why Helijet has so many long-term employees. Like Kovacs, who was hired in 1989, many employees have chosen to make careers with the company, several serving 20 years, plus. 

Moreover, the company offers employees an enjoyable work-life balance in a company that treats them well and offers a measure of stability  a rare commodity in the aviation industry. Even rarer is the ability to live in beautiful Vancouver or Victoria and be home every night.

It is also worth noting that Helijet commitment to treating people with respect extends beyond customers and staff to the communities its aircraft fly into and over.

Helicopters are inherently noisy machines and the company knows there is no shortage of people in Victoria, Vancouver, and the Gulf Islands in between, who would just as soon see them gone altogether. This is, after all, the birthplace of Greenpeace.

Nevertheless, in an effort to be sensitive to residents and minimize irritation, Helijet has a fly neighbourly policy that sees scheduled flights operate at higher altitudes and along more than a dozen different flight routes on any given day. What more, they’ve constructed a noise-attenuating berm at the Victoria heliport, and the last flight of the day touches down at 19:05 in both cities. Going a step further, the company installed engine exhaust scrubbers on its S-76 fleet in 2010, and that same year it went carbon neutral when it partnered with Pacific Carbon Trust, a non-profit B.C. government organization that buys and sells carbon offsets.

Taken together, these environmental measures add significant costs each year, but Sitnam considers each an investment in the company future, as well as the right thing to do.

Reacting and adapting to the needs of the marketplace is another hallmark of Helijet success. As Sitnam is careful to note, You can never underestimate the market, the communities you serve, or the power of the consumer.

That proved true shortly after Helijet started its scheduled service between Vancouver and Victoria. While the passenger market was relatively quick to embrace the new service, it became obvious in a matter of months that the company lone Bell 412 was not adequate for the job. 

Soon after Helijet started operations, Jack Donahue paid a visit from Sikorsky to pitch its S-76A helicopter. He made a convincing argument that this machine provided the speed, convenience, efficiencies and aesthetics necessary for the corporate market, while reducing noise and costs to a minimum.

As a result of that meeting, Helijet acquired two S-76A helicopters, and became wedded to Sikorsky and its products in a relationship that carried over into new markets.

The company continued adding additional S-76As to its fleet in the ensuing years, and, for a brief time operated an S-61 N to augment its passenger flights. The company also began exploring other scheduled routes with fixed-wing aircraft. To that end, Helijet introduced Beech 1900s on commuter service between Abbotsford, Victoria and Campbell River, as well as to Seattle, Wash., but abandoned the B.C. routes due to weaker load factors, and the U.S. route after 9/11 when trans-border issues became too onerous.

Around that time, Helijet recognized scheduled service was increasingly becoming economically challenging on its core market between Vancouver and Victoria. As such, the company decided to diversify into new sectors. 

Looking to its own backyard, Helijet began exploring the air ambulance market. Having established itself as a safe and reliable IFR service with a known brand, the company began promoting its S-76A as a suitable choice for government air medical contracts in B.C. What more, the company recognized that many of its existing scheduled service customers in the provincial government and the Ministry of Health were already frequent flyers on Helijet and therefore familiar with what the company and the S-76A could provide.

As a result of its efforts, Helijet secured the company first air medical contract with the B.C. government in 1998, operating one S-76A for a five-year term. Since then, the company has been awarded additional B.C. Ambulance Service (BCAS) contracts for both rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft  the most recent of which saw the company acquire three S-76C+ helicopters for dedicated air ambulance service in Vancouver and Prince Rupert as part of an eight-year contract, with an extension for four years. 

With three helicopters and a Lear 31 dedicated to BCAS contracts, air ambulance work now accounts for more than 50 per cent of Helijet annual revenue. Not surprisingly, the company is pursuing additional air ambulance contracts in the province and is seeking to expand outside B.C. as provincial government attitudes towards joint ventures with the private sector change across the country.

We have a real strong understanding and appreciation of the mission  what the paramedic and the patient need, said Sitnam. Our crews have depth of experience and knowledge: they understand operational standards, IFR operations in varied environmental conditions, and the importance of the relationship between flight crew and paramedics. 

Helijet is not content to rest on its laurels. Having established itself as a scheduled carrier and an air ambulance provider, the company began developing new markets in the tourism and utility sectors about five years ago.

Because summertime sees load factors soften on Helijet scheduled service between Vancouver and Victoria, the company sought to redeploy its extra capacity between June and early September. To that end, the company negotiated a couple of contracts in 2006 to fly guests and supplies into fishing lodges in Haida Gwaii (formerly The Queen Charlotte Islands), a remote archipelago of some 150 islands located 200 km. off B.C. northwest coast.

The weather in Haida Gwaii can be ferocious even in summer (trees grow at an angle on the windward side) and sport fishing lodge operators can’t afford to have guests stranded by high winds and low ceilings. As with its Vancouver-Victoria scheduled service, Helijet demonstrated it could provide a more capable and reliable alternative to floatplanes. Other resorts on the islands took notice and soon began hiring Helijet to support their own operations. 

Branching into this market was a good move. The seasonal fishing lodge market now accounts for 10 per cent of Helijet annual business, accomplished by four S-76As flying steadily for 110 days.

In 2010 Helijet went a step further and consolidated its position in Haida Gwaii with the purchase of Vancouver Island Helicopters’ (VIH) assets there, acquiring a B206L LongRanger and fixed base facilities in Masset and Sandspit. As a result, Helijet is now the single-source helicopter provider in Haida Gwaii, serving almost all sport fishing lodge operators, while also extending into the utility market to support an array of industries, including forestry and fisheries, as well as environmental and hydroelectric projects. 

While Helijet VFR market is rather limited right now, it will surprise no one that the company sees potential to grow these services and expand its capabilities into new markets, particularly large construction and mining projects in B.C., as well as other parts of the country.

We’re interested in looking for joint-venture partners in oil and gas, mining and construction projects, said Helijet. We can already provide transportation services¦ and we’re also considering heavier-lift markets.

Moreover, as a helicopter operator rooted in the multi-engine IFR market, Sitnam isn’t ruling out opportunities in the offshore oil and gas sector.

Who knows what the next 25 years will hold for Helijet, but the fundamental principles of gritty faith, superior service, and an ability to adapt to new and existing markets has served it well thus far. And like any solid marriage, the company experience suggests that those who truly believe, work hard, don’t take people for granted, and are able to adapt to circumstances  good and bad  stand to succeed. And with a bit of luck, the love affair never ends.