Speed and convenience is what Sharp-Tail Air Ltd. is looking to offer as the charter air service company opens out of a hangar at the Estevan Municipal Airport.
Aaron Elmy and his crew have spent the last 14 months completing the commercial operating certificate, finally becoming operational as a commercial charter business on Jan. 1.
"We finally got all that stuff straightened out and now you're able to hire us for whatever you need," said Elmy, the director of maintenance and a pilot for Sharp-Tail. He has been flying for almost 20 years and has been an aircraft engineer for eight.
Because of the heavy federal regulation of air travel, it was a long process for Elmy, who also had to go back through training for the aircraft, though he had been flying that type of aircraft for most of his life. He even had to write a manual for transporting dangerous goods, something they don't transport.
"It's surreal," said Elmy about getting through the process and beginning operation of their charter service. "It has been such a long process that it never seemed like it would materialize. I'm happy to be done with the bureaucracy part of it. Ed Komarnicki (MP Souris-Moose Mountain) was actually a lot of help.
"We went through all the painstaking measures to make sure we can go into the United States," said Elmy, noting that they will be able to provide service south of the border come Feb. 28.
The jet-powered Beechcraft King Air is pretty well brand new and was picked up from the factory in Wichita, Kan. in 2011. It's a corporate charter airplane with comfortable seating for seven passengers, complete with tables, outlets for laptops or cellphone charging, and a small bar. It has two 850-horsepower jet engines that power the propellers on each wing.
The plane will fly at 35,000 feet and do close to 350 miles per hour. Elmy, who grew up near Arcola, said that's nice in the summer in order to find a smooth ride.
He noted their practical range is about 1,000 miles, adding that they can go to Vancouver nonstop. Elmy's quickest trip from Calgary to Estevan is about an hour and 15 minutes.
"Fort McMurray is an easy one. We do a lot of Edmonton, Calgary. It's a fast machine. A lot of the trips we do, it's jet territory. It makes sense to use the jet, but when you get to the other end, the jet needs about 5,000 feet (to land) and we can do about 2,800 feet without ever batting an eye."
He said there isn't an airport around they can't fly in and out of. They run two pilots for all flights, including Elmy and Rick Hodgson. Hodgson has been flying with Sharp-Tail for about a year and has been the captain since they opened commercially this year.
Elmy said a lot of their business thus far has been with the corporate side of the oilpatch. They have a contract with a local company that recently had a line strike.
"Within hours we can have them in Calgary, talking with the clients and square away everything. We can go into the location, in this case it was Shaunavon, go back to Calgary and there was no time lost. That's the demographic we're aiming for."
He'd like to see interest reach beyond the oilfield clientele, but that business has been keeping Sharp-Tail busy since the start of the year.
Elmy uses the Estevan airport for its hangar, and he noted it's also one of the best around for snow removal and access to jet fuel. It also has GPS approach in Estevan, while many other municipal airports don't.
Sharp-Tail doesn't run scheduled service, Elmy pointed out. As a charter service, they fly specifically to destinations their customers need to get to, when they need to get there.
"You're not showing up two hours before, waiting for security. There's no security. We take care of that ourselves," said Elmy. "If you're going to a hockey game in Edmonton, we have a limo waiting at the airport. When we pull up, the marshal is standing out front. He'll put the chocks in the tires, drive the limo to the airport, you hop on, go to your Oilers game and come back."
