From Buttonville to Timmins: new airport manager sets sights on growth.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: TIMMINS

With infrastructure improvements and business attraction efforts on the way, the Timmins Victor M. Power Airport has a strong role to play in the development of the Ring of Fire, says its new manager, Dave Dayment.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"It could be a kick-off point to get some supplies and some cargo, so this could be a big chance for us," said Dayment.

"We'd just be providing the runway, of course, but there could be a couple companies doing their own business out of here, helping to supply equipment. I don't see putting a 100-ton loader in one of these things, but you can move people in and out, and some flights from Air Creebec are already doing just that."

It's a broad perspective Dayment brings to the table, having taken over the reins from long-time airport manager Harley Nikkei in September 2010. From the Buttonville area north of Toronto, Dayment earned his pilot's license three decades ago with the intention of pursuing aviation as a career.

Ironically, it was a flight into Timmins that cut short that plan: a mid-winter trip with no hangar space and no plug-ins forced him and his co-pilot to spend an evening taking turns warming up the six-seat, twin-engine plane every 20 minutes. After noticing that airport administrative staff returned home at the end of the night, he decided on a new career path, leaping into management and sticking to flying as a hobby. He worked at and managed the Buttonville Airport for 29 years, where he occasionally rubbed elbows with high-powered executives, professional sports teams and such celebrities as Christopher Reeve.

"We even de-ice Superman's airplane, because even he can't fly with snow on his wings," Dayment used to tell impatient winter travellers.

However, when it was announced the Buttonville Airport - the largest privately owned airport in Canada - was to be phased out to make way for a business and commercial park, Dayment decided to come North. It's an area not unfamiliar to him, with his cottage a short distance south of North Bay.

The Timmins airport is host to a range of dedicated services, including the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Health, which provides dedicated air ambulance services for the North from its hangar, as well as passenger and charter services through the likes of Bearskin Airlines, Air Canada, and Wasaya Airways.

These also helped draw Dayment to Timmins, along with the "good site, good facility, good approach, scheduled service and a good tenant...