Thunder Airlines expanding.

• Author: GOULIQUER, DIANNE
• Position: Brief Article

Airline increases services, seeks new opportunities

Thunder Airlines is spreading its wings. The Thunder Bay-based airline company has already expanded its air-ambulance service in Timmins by buying out Canada Airmed, and continues to look for new opportunities inside and outside of Ontario.

"(Thunder Airlines) bought out a company called Airmed, which had a base (in Timmins), in early 2000," Ken Bittle, president of Thunder Airlines says. "We have increased our service there from a 12-hour-during-the-day service to a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week service for air ambulance. That took place (in June of this year). There's the potential for some other expansion there, but we're waiting for some feedback from the government on that aspect."

Thunder Airlines, offering air ambulance, air charter and air cargo service throughout Ontario and across the country, has an eight-person flight crew and eight paramedics currently working for its Timmins hangar. Bittle says he has known for sometime that 24-hour service for the area was needed, and that more staff was called for.

Because of the size of the geographic area, he says there were many night calls that Thunder Airlines could not accommodate.

"If you're operating during the day, for instance, the flight crew that flies during the day can't also fly at night. So if you have an air-ambulance call at night, if you've flown during the day, you can't do it," Bittle says. "We have felt for some time that there was a call for night work as well as day work and we are in the process of enhancing what we have there now to provide 24-hour advanced life support. We already have advanced life support (in Timmins), but it's not 24 hours a day. So we're in the process of lining up some other staff."

Thunder Air's biggest client...