Northern aviators land in Yellowknife
Delegates from across Canada, the U.S. and U.K. gather in city for 41st Northern Air Transport Association's annual general meeting
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Making aviation transportation in the North safer and more reliable was the underlying theme as upwards of 200 delegates gathered in Yellowknife last week for the Northern Air Transport Association's 41st annual general meeting.
Capt. Paul McKee, right, commanding officer of 825 Yellowknife Air Cadets, listens as Sgt. Quinn Levesque speaks to delegates Thursday at the Northern Air Transport Association's 41st annual general meeting held at the Explorer Hotel. The three-day event brought together aviation industry insiders and government regulators from across the country to talk about air safety and innovation. - John McFadden/NNSL photo
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The event, held at the Explorer Hotel, was part trade show, part symposium as well as a chance for people in the aviation industry to break bread and rub shoulders with folks who share an interest in flying and the aviation business.
According to Glenn Priestly, the association's Ottawa-based executive director, the conference also provided a chance for industry reps to sit down with federal regulators from the Transportation Safety Board and Transport Canada.
"We're here to make our people smarter and make a good system even better," he said.
According to Priestly, the event brought out experts to lead panels on runways, airport improvement and regulation.
Colin Dempsey is the association's Yellowknife-based general manager. He said the organization has members from all three territories and eight provinces. He added delegates flew in from across the country as well as the U.S. and even Wales in the United Kingdom.
"Every year we gather everyone and reconnect," Dempsey said. "For some people it's just networking and keeping up contacts. For others it's for getting the regulatory updates. We bring the key regulators in so that they can give the most current updates on new initiatives and answer questions and hear feedback from the members."
Dempsey said that among the unique companies that showed off their wares at the trade show part of the conference was Conair Aerial Firefighting out of Abbotsford B.C. They are global leaders that specialize in retrofitting firefighting aircraft and maintaining aircraft used for aerial firefighting - mainly forest fires.
He also made mention of Kenn Borek Air Ltd., which was also at the conference. The Calgary-based company does Antarctic supply as well as search and rescue.
The annual meeting rotates between Yellowknife and Whitehorse and the events bring tens of thousand of dollars into the local economy, according to Dempsey.
