Air service takes off

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Little Red Air Service is on a direct flight for success. The air service is being piloted by 29-year-old Michael Nanooch, who was hand-picked for the position.

Nanooch who received his engineering diploma from Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek, B.C. and a Business Diploma from Grande Prairie Regional College, has been with Little Red since 1989.

Originally, Little Red River First Nation created the air service as a cost-effective air taxi to fly chief and council to business functions at the First Nation's three reserves. Eventually, the First Nation extended the service and made it a business.

"When the plane wasn't being used there were people who were asking to be flown somewhere or who wanted to hitch rides when it was in use," said Don Ste.-Croix, chief pilot for Little Red Air Service. "Eventually, the plane spent so much time in the air that the First Nation turned it into a business."

Located in Fort Vermilion, 600 kilometres north of Edmonton, the air service began in 1986 with a six seat, single engine Cessna 206. After purchasing and leasing several other planes, the company expanded in 1990 to include a second office in High Level. In 1994, they obtained a five-year Alberta Health contract for air ambulance service.

"We have the greatest area of responsibility in all of Alberta," said St. Croix, a pilot since 1970.

Little Red provides air charters, air freight, aircraft maintenance, fly-in fishing services for tourists, air ambulance service, and environmental survey flying. This year, the air service also worked on the fire lines of the huge forest fires in Northern Alberta.

"The entire northern part of the province seemed like it was on fire," said Nanooch. "We were moving firefighting crews and freight. It certainly made up a big part of our business this summer."

The company services Little Red River Cree Nation's three reserves which include Fox Lake, John D'or Prairie, and Garden River Settlement. The company's 11 planes also fly as far north as the border of the Northeast Territories, as far west as Rainbow Lake, and as far east as the Saskatchewan border. The air ambulance also makes the trip to Edmonton on a regular basis.

One of Nanooch's pet projects is the Kewetin Flight Training Centre, after a year of planning, it will open in mid-September.

"The idea is to train people that already live in Northern Alberta," said Nanooch, a pilot since 1992. "What we are finding is that a lot of pilots will come here to work for a few years, but they have family elsewhere so the turnover rate is high. We're hoping this will help lessen that turnover."

The training centre will remain a separate entity from Little Red Air Service, employing one person, with a second employee added during the spring.

According to Nanooch, Little Red flew between 5,500 and 6,000 hours last year alone. The air service, which grosses, $3.5 to $4 million annually, employs 26 people during the summer and 36 in the winter months.

"Our main goal is to keep the air service expanding," said Nanooch, and it looks like clear skies ahead for Little Red Air Service."My ultimate goal is to continue to improve our image in the community and to ensure that everybody who works at Little Red enjoys coming into work everyday because your employees are your number one asset."