RANKIN INLET - Jimi Onalik knows the importance of local hires when doing business in the Kivalliq.

The 32-year-old president of Unaalik Aviation grew up in Rankin Inlet.

He returned to the community to open an office of his aviation business - a partner of Kenn Borek Air - about two years ago.

His company now has bases in Rankin, Iqaluit, Resolute and Cambridge Bay, doing scheduled flights and medevacs out of the Baffin and Twin Otter off-strip charters from the others.

Rankin Inlet's Benji Fredlund is a commercial pilot flying out of his hometown with Unaalik Aviation. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Unaalik does a lot of flying for mineral exploration companies.

The firm was using 16 aircraft during the summer of 2006, with Twin Otters making up the bulk of its fleet.

Onalik is proud of the fact Rankin Inlet's own Benji Fredlund flies for his company.

He said it's extremely important to be able to use pilots from the Kivalliq.

"Having local pilots allows us to serve our customers better by having people who know a good many of the passengers and can relate to them better," said Onalik.

"But, more than that, we have an obligation to hire locally whenever we can.

"It sends a positive message to local youth when they see someone like Benji (Fredlund) flying our aircraft and realize they can do that too - if they're willing to put the work in."

Onalik decided to take flight training after growing up around Michael Kusugak, who was doing a lot of flying at the time.

He said it makes a big difference when you can talk to a pilot you know, and maybe even get a bit of help planning your own training.

"Famous role models are great and it's nice to see those posters up in a community telling kids they can reach their goals.

"But you don't have to be famous to be a positive role model.

"There's a lot to be said for being able to have a normal conversation about your goals with someone you know in the community, and not have to do it through some sort of formal program.

"So, on those levels, having local people is a really good fit for my company."

Fredlund, 26, started looking towards the sky after finishing high school in 1999.

Aviation had always been a part of his life, so the decision to seek a career in the air was a natural one.

"I went to Winnipeg for my student's licence and was lucky enough to get into the aviation diploma program at Aurora College in 2004," said Fredlund.

"That's when the real training began."

Fredlund racked up about 300 hours of flying time while completing his two-year program at Aurora.

He then returned to Rankin and began working for Kivalliq Air.

Unaalik Aviation made him an offer in 2005 and he's been with that company ever since.

"I put in my time loading planes, answering phones and doing any task the company needed, which is normal for a pilot right out of school.

"A pilot has to be checked out on an aircraft before he can fly it, and I'm checked on the Twin Otter.

"I've been flying, mostly as a co-pilot, from town to town on charters because we haven't started scheduled flights out of Rankin just yet."

Fredlund said flying for a living is exciting and he enjoys meeting new people.

He said while everything's just white from the air during winter, summer scenery can be breathtaking.

"You see the landscape in a different way than people who never fly."

Fredlund said pilots have to trust their instruments when flying at night or in poor visibility.

He said there's also more procedures to be followed when flying by instrumentation.

"As a pilot, there's really no difference in your comfort level either way, there's just a lot more rules you have to strictly follow when flying by instrumentation.

"It cost me about $40,000 to get this far, so I'm going to be here for awhile and build up my flying time.

"I don't know how long I'll be based in Rankin, but I've picked my career path.

"I've put in too much time, effort and money to back down now."