Refuelling business responds to demands created by the switch to commuter planes.

• Author: Sinclair, L.I.
• Position: Transportation Report

New demands are being placed on the airplane refuelling business as a result of the switch from passenger jets to commuter planes in Northern Ontario.

"Four years ago we refuelled 4,000 scheduled flights a year, but now we average about 12,000," says Brock Marshal, president of Maintair Aviation Services Ltd of Thunder Bay. "This hasn't affected our volume of sales, but we're working much harder to pump the same amount of fuel."

Marshall explains that the Boeing 737 and Douglas DC-9 passenger jets previously operated in the north by Canadian Airlines and Air Canada called for tremendous quantities of bulk fuel.

Smaller commuter planes such as Handley Page Jetstreams, De Havilland Dash-8s and Beechcraft products require less fuel, but more frequent flights have maintained Maintair Aviation's overall sales.

"This has meant more staff, increased wear and tear on equipment and more paper to push," Marshall adds.

Maintair Aviation has represented Shell Oil since 1968 after receiving a ground servicing contract with Air Canada. Company founder Harold Neumann started the firm after working as the airplane mechanic for Thunder Bay's local flying club.

Neumann began operating the Maintair Aviation in the present Bearskin Airlines' hangar. Today the company's staff work from a 1,040-square-foot office and utilize a 2,400-square-foot garage for vehicle repairs.

Marshall, a licensed private pilot, joined the organization in 1974 and became the owner 14 years later.

Eight employees fuel the airplanes using four tanker trucks valued at between $150,000 and $175,000 each. Although the expense is offset by vehicle life - up to 20 years - purchase prices remain high because each unit must be custom built.

HIGHLY TRAINED

While people in the airplane refuelling business are sometimes knick-named "hoseheads" or "pump jockeys," Marshall argues that his staff members have a tremendous amount of responsibility.

"It's no longer a case of starting a truck and jamming a hose into a gas tank. The training is quite extensive," he says.

"First they start here on the job for hands-on experience and then they attend a comprehensive Shell course in Ottawa. It's sun-up to sun-down for them, with an examination at the end before certification by Shell."

In addition, refuellers must take regular refresher and upgrading courses, and Shell also conducts unscheduled operational audits of Maintair Aviation.

"We're usually not warned that they are coming, but that doesn't...