There By Air.com
Enterprise Air is more than a clever web address in Oshawa, Ontario
By John F. Infanger, Editorial Director
August 2001
Although business has slowed somewhat in
2001 because of the downturn in North American auto sales, say Rosario
and Burchartz, their rapid growth in just over six years can be attributed
to good times at GM in recent years, along with significant growth from
nearby Toronto, some 40 miles down the shore to the west.
FAST FACTS:
• Retail fuel: 94 cents/liter (Canadian)
• Annual fuel volume: 300,000 gallons
• Fleet — Cessna 310; Beech
18; Navajo; DC-3 (piston); Basler Turbo DC-3; PBY
They remain optimistic that their strong
revenue trend, growing from $150,000 in annual sales (Canadian) in 1994
to over $3 million in 2000, will continue and are investing $2.4 million
(Canadian) in a new 25,000-sq.ft. hangar/office complex across the airfield.
The facility sits on four acres under a 20-year lease with options.
The move is part of the city of Oshawa’s
attempt to consolidate airside operations on one side of the airport while
pursuing compatible opportunities for the acreage which presently houses
tired aviation and military facilities left over from World War II. A
key component of future success, say the partners, is extension of the
main runway from 4,000 feet to 5,000 feet, an initiative that is moving
slowly.
Along with new facilities, Rosario and Burchartz
are targeting new opportunities and foresee scheduled charter service
as a strong possibility.
Cargo, Then Diversity
Rosario, 48, and Burchartz, 37, met working
at their Oshawa predecessor Skycraft, which went out of business following
a change in attitude by the owner and the 1980s eoncomic downturn in Canada,
they say. They teamed up in 1994, and following their initial success
have slowly added new businesses, including flight training and specialty
charters. Enterprise Air also offers fuel services, primarily fueling
its own aircraft, and is the property management arm. Another company,
Enterprise Airlines, serves as the maintenance provider.
Enterprise Air also offers trucking and
ground handling services, completing the company’s ability to be
a full-service cargo provider, they say. It’s a matter of building
on the line of business that has been the mainstay.
"The automotive industry, the automotive
freight, isn’t the most glamorous business, but you can make good
money if you set yourself up right," explains Burchartz. "That’s
what Skycraft did, so we knew how to do it.
"And there aren’t that many people,
I guess, who want to do it. You have to be able to launch an airplane
within an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." Customs is also on
the field.
The company’s flight training wing,
Durham Flight Centre, recently linked up with a local vocational school,
Centennial College, which has an established technician program. It employs
five full-time instructors. Overall, the group of companies employs 40.
Regarding new business, Enterprise Air is
exploring regularly scheduled charter service for General Motors. "We
are definitely looking at a shuttle between Oshawa and the Windsor/Detroit
area," says Burchartz. "There’s a definite need for that.
There have been some companies that have tried it."
Meanwhile, the company will continue to
pursue specialty missions for its aircraft, which have included African
safari-like treks in a PBY, a DC-3 mission in Antarctica last winter,
and a current contract with the Bureau of Land Management for "smoke
jumping" (firefighting) in Alaska in the recently acquired Basler
Turbo DC-3.
"In 1999, our straight piston DC-3
did 1,325 hours, which is maxing it to the limit," says Burchartz.
"It’s quite a jump, to go from a $300,000 airplane to a $4.3
million Basler. But it’s stretched, it can carry more, and it can
go faster and further."
NAV CANADA ... a User’s Perspective
Enterprise Air Inc.’s chief pilot and co-owner, Brian Burchartz, says that overall flying in the U.S. and Canada airspace is the same.
Burchartz, who flies under both Canadian
and U.S. air charter regulations, says the well-publicized modernization
of his country’s airspace by NAV CANADA has been most noticeable
in that "everything costs."
Explains Burchartz, "On light aircraft
they just charge a yearly fee, including for the 310 and the Navajo. The
DC-3, because it’s so much heavier, it’s charged for routing,
the mileage, a terminal fee, and every time it takes off from an airport
it’s about $100. Generally, for the DC-3, an average bill for a month
is like $3,000 to $6,000.
"They just send you a bill; they want
to be paid."
On the subject of comparing US. ATC and
Canada’s, Burchartz says "the air traffic control in the U.S.
seems to be able to handle more volume.
"For example, with flight planning,
in the States I can file a flight plan on their 800 number, walk over
to the airplane, call clearance, and they’ll have it right away.
Whereas in Canada, they have an 800 number, but sometimes you have to
wait ten or 15 minutes for the control tower to have your clearance.
"That’s an example of where modernizing
isn’t necessarily better. In that respect, the U.S. is ahead of Canada."
