Max Shapiro said when Voyageur was sold to Chorus Aviation, it was done so because both organizations believed in Voyageur’s growth potential.
That was back in 2015 when the President and CEO of Voyageur Airways announced the sale of the company.
See: Voyageur sale good news says Shapiro
Today, that growth was realized as Voyageur announced more than 40 new jobs will be added along with a $2.75 million investment through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.
See related: Forty more jobs being created at North Bay's Voyageur Aviation
“I think our selling point is that we have an interesting business plan here where Voyageur is part of the Chorus Group companies, it is a large business, publicly traded company whose vision is to deliver regional aviation to the world,” said Scott Tapson, President of Voyageur Aviation Corp.
“We are focused on three sectors. We are focused on contract flying, we are focused on maintenance repair and overhaul and aircraft leasing so the fit that Voyageur has with the rest of the Chorus business is excellent and we can produce all kinds of synergies by collaborating and working together within the Chorus Group so our airplane leasing business, for example, needs support for lease transitions, aircraft overhauls, that type of thing.
“This is a facility they can make use of for that type of work.”
The hiring process has already started. Tapson says as a North Bay-based company with a global client base, this investment is key to Voyageur’s continued growth.
“We are actually well on our way so we have started. I think we are up 16 to 18 if my numbers are right now,” he said.
“So principally we are talking about jobs in our technical services area...so our maintenance, repair and overhaul group. But also our administrative people to support the growth of the business here as well.”
And the growth occurring in the aviation industry is a good thing for the local aviation company.
“You just have to look at passenger traffic around the world, it is continuously growing, we are obviously focused on the regional side, so we see that as a real growth opportunity and that is why we focused on that particular segment and that is where a lot of our expertise is,” said Tapson.
“We have been in this business through Voyageur, through Jazz, for many, many, many years. We have gained a whole lot of experience in regional aviation and that is an experience that can be leveraged around the world with the products and services that we sell.”