SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Trinity Helicopters has replaced Great Slave Helicopters as the company that is shuttling goods across the Mackenzie River during break-up season this year.

RTL Robinson Enterprises, a Northern company that trucks freight, awarded the contract for work that began April 20.

"It's a vote of confidence toward the management and the company to be able to acquire such a contract with a company such as RTL," said company president and co-founder Rob Carroll. "It's a vote of confidence knowing that they believe in Trinity Helicopters and what we can offer."

Spring break-up at the Mackenzie River crossing commonly lasts up to four weeks. A Trinity Helicopters' Bell 205A model - one of seven choppers company owns - will sling essential goods like medical supplies, produce and other perishable items across the thawing river until the Merv Hardie ferry starts service for the season, expected in mid-May.

The Bell 205 A should spend about 90 hours in the air throughout this period, averaging close to 1,800 kilograms per load to carry out the work, keeping Yellowknife and other communities north of the river stocked with supplies.

Five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday, trucks arriving on the southern shores of the river will be off-loaded and the goods secured on pallets, before the helicopter pilot will fly it across. Carroll said the crews will have three to four loads of merchandise ready for the pilot so the operation is as efficient as possible. He added it takes a half hour to fly one truckload of equipment across the river.

RTL Robinson Enterprises Ltd. stated in a press release that it awarded Trinity the contract since Trinity a local Northern aboriginal company with strong service and competitive prices.

Trinity Helicopters was established in 2009 by the Deton'Cho Corporation, the economic development arm of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.