While finalizing contracts with Europe for two dozen new firefighting planes, De Havilland Canada has amped up local production.

Over the last six months or so, the company bolstered up to 300 employees at its North Saanich site (formerly Viking Air), where parts are made in anticipation of assembly in Calgary, according to Neil Sweeney, vice-president of corporate affairs.

乌鸦传媒淜nock on wood, heavily, our HR people have been very good at recruiting. We乌鸦传媒檝e done recruiting fairs and been pleasantly surprised by the people who want to get into aerospace,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭hat doesn乌鸦传媒檛 mean there aren乌鸦传媒檛 holes to fill.乌鸦传媒�

The Canadair CL-215 and CL-415 aircraft have been a critical part of European and North American aerial firefighting fleets for more than 50 years.

READ ALSO:

In 2016, Viking (now De Havilland) bought the Canadair program 乌鸦传媒� which has been around since the mid-1960s 乌鸦传媒� from Bombardier.

乌鸦传媒淭hey really are the backbone of the firefighting fleet both in Canada and Europe,乌鸦传媒� Sweeney said, noting from 1970 through 2016, 225 were built and sold. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e been keeping the current air fleet flying since then.乌鸦传媒�

The North Saanich site continued to make the parts to keep the water bombers flying with options to build remaining if the market rebounded. The company launched its De Havilland DHC-515 Firefighter program in 2022.

France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Croatia have agreed to 24 aircraft total to date, with contracts in the final phases.

Assuming contracts are in place, the first delivery is expected in mid to late 2027, Sweeney said.

乌鸦传媒淲e think there乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of opportunity to refresh the fleet, but also there乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of other countries that will want to purchase them given climate change,乌鸦传媒� Sweeney said.

READ ALSO:

While about half the market for the water bombers is in Europe, North America 乌鸦传媒� including six Canadian provinces 乌鸦传媒� makes up the rest of the clientele. Many have the CL215 乌鸦传媒� the first generation of the aircraft 乌鸦传媒� in their fleet which makes them about 35 to 50 years old.

In Canada乌鸦传媒檚 most destructive wildfire season on record, according to Natural Resources Canada, by September last year more than 6,132 fires had torched 16.5 million hectares of land 乌鸦传媒� an area larger than Greece.

乌鸦传媒淲e saw a very bad fire season across our country last year, nobody had nearly enough infrastructure it didn乌鸦传媒檛 matter where you were,乌鸦传媒� Sweeney said.

乌鸦传媒淲e like our planes to be at the ready but not overused, because that means there乌鸦传媒檚 something very bad happening to communities or the natural environment.乌鸦传媒�

READ ALSO: