New horizons: aviation legend charts a new course.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: THUNDER BAY

Sitting in the modern glass-framed boardroom of the new 19,000-square-foot Pilatus Centre Canada headquarters, it would be easy for an entrepreneur like 56-year-old Frank Kelner, to rest on his laurels and start thinking about retirement.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

But with his cell phone vibrating with a constant stream of messages, the flying legend can only think about his next big project, Cargo North, a new freight operation service that he plans to kick off this winter.

"What I like about Canadians is they're so lazy. If you want someone to get up in the morning and get the job done it's almost impossible for the average Canadian."

That reasoning spurred Kelner to launch Cargo North last summer, an investment group he's leading through an alliance with Nakina Air Services and North Star Air in his old stomping grounds of Pickle Lake.

Seeing an opening to provide First Nation communities, mining companies and the exploration camps of the Ring of Fire with a first-class air freight service and modern aircraft, Kelner and his partners have purchased a Basler Turbo 67 (BT-67) in Wisconsin.

For Kelner, delivering sterling service to customers means more than any signed contracts.

"If you produce, you get the work, it's that simple. If you're known to give good service, treat your customers well, the prices are fair, you automatically get the business."

Well-known in aviation circles over a 40-year career, the companies he founded in the Kelner Group include the Pilatus Centre (the Canadian distributor of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft), V. Kelner Helicopters, and Private Air, an aircraft Management and charter subsidiary.

Reality TV shows can make legends like Kelner something of a celebrity. But watching episodes of Ice Pilots NWT only makes him cringe.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"It's exciting for somebody that may not have a great knowledge of aviation to look at Ice Pilots, but I find it so unprofessional," said Kelner, rhyming off a litany of televised transgressions and misconduct.

"If I were Transport Canada, I'd have a violation for every show I see."

If one of Kelner's pilots were caught doing a low-level "buzz job," he wouldn't be employed for long.

"There's no room to breathe. We're really strict and vocal about it. We're 100 per cent professional, we're hard workers and we spend a lot of money on high-end equipment, but everything gets done by the rule book."

While some Northern passenger and freight carriers are wedded to Second World War-era...