YELLOWKNIFE
Summit Air will be adding a second Avro RJ-85 to its fleet to serve long-term contracts like the one recently signed with First Air.

Myles Cane, Summit Air senior vice-president of operations stands beside one of the high-ground clearance jet turbines on one of Summit's recently acquired Avro RJ-85s. Summit has a second RJ-85 on the way. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo

On Jan. 27, Summit Air will put its first RJ-85 to work flying scheduled First Air routes on select Edmonton to Norman Wells and Inuvik routes via Yellowknife. A second RJ-85 recently purchased by Summit is being serviced in England and is expected to arrive this April.

First Air and Summit already have a history of working together. For First Air's Bert van der Stege, president of commercial operations, this move to further solidify the business relationship between the two companies is key to Northern survival.

"I strongly believe there is need for consolidation in Northern aviation," van der Stege told Yellowknifer in an e-mail last week.

"Partnerships are key to achieving economies of scale and combining strengths."

With almost all of Summit's approximately 112 employees based in Yellowknife (only a handful fill positions in Edmonton) growth at Summit Air is a good sign for Yellowknife-based aviation.

Myles Cane, Summit Air senior vice-president of operations, said Summit has avoided some of the immediate difficulties other carriers face with the sudden contraction of oil patch flight activity.

"It's good that we didn't spend a bunch of capital to get spooled up quickly in the oil patch," Cane said.

"That's why this is such a tricky business," he added. "You have to be as diversified as possible."

Certified for both pavement and remote gravel runways, the RJ-85 fits the diversification bill. It's equally at home landing at the Edmonton International Airport as it would be landing on a gravel airstrip.

"It's a 90 passenger aircraft with a high wing, high engines and robust landing gear," Cane said.

"It's an ideal platform to provide jet services on gravel and in the North for the next 20 or 30 years."

The Boeing 737-200 has been filling that role in the North, but the aircraft is reaching the end of its lifespan. The RJ-85 is seen as a replacement for the 737.

"The incumbent, the 737, is an amazing airplane," Cane said.

"It's had a fantastic tenure, but unfortunately, only the early models of the 737 are permitted to land on gravel and they are reaching the end of their service life."

The RJ-85 is particularly suited for Northern service. Its wings are mounted on top of the fuselage, giving its four wing-mounted turbine engines more ground clearance than on the 737.

"(Jet) engines are essentially large vacuum cleaners," Cane said.

"They will suck up gravel up if the engines are to close to a gravel runway. The engines are roughly three times higher off the ground than on a 737."

Other Northern modifications the jets get include several layers of rubberized paint on landing gear components, with additional Kevlar and stainless steel plates installed to protect the gear from kicked up gravel and stones.

It's not just a rugged plane, it's also more fuel efficient, burning 680 fewer kilograms of jet fuel every hour than the 737. That's a savings of almost 853 litres per hour.

But the jet's four 3,175 kilogram thrust turbine engines still burn approximately 2,041 pounds (2557 litres) of fuel per hour, so the recent decline in the cost of fuel has been a relief for Summit.

"We're excited about the price of oil," Cane said. "After employee costs, fuel costs are the highest costs for an airline."

Summit Air is part of the Alberta-based Ledcor Group of Companies. It has been operating out of Yellowknife for more than 20 years, and was purchased by Ledcor in 2009.

In partnership with Det'on Cho Logistics, Summit Air also manages freight and personnel flight services to the Diavik Diamond Mine from Edmonton via Yellowknife.

Cane said he expects the new aircraft will mean more hiring, but that it's too early to say exactly how much.

As for First Air's contracting out of services, although the contract is a "wet lease" -- meaning Summit provides not only the aircraft but all crew and support services -- van der Stege said the contract will not mean a reduction in First Air staffing levels.

"At First Air (we) are growing our business this year and expanding our staffing levels accordingly," van der Stege said.

"As we speak, we are in the process of hiring an additional 28 staff members already."