CanWest boss ‘very excited’ with milestone
It has been a marathon but CanWest is celebrating another milestone in completing its facilities at the airport to provide fixed-wing air ambulance services on behalf of Alberta Health Services.
On Tuesday and Wednesday asphalt paving of its taxiway and ramp was accomplished.
“Oh, very excited,” said Jake Fehr, CEO CanWest Air, with a big smile as he stood on the taxiway Wednesday.
The project including construction of a hangar has cost $2 million, said Fehr. The taxiway, approximately 800 feet, and ramp to the hangar was $500,000 of that amount.
Medicine Hat’s airport has been closed since May 7 for rehabilitation of the main runway, making it an ideal time for CanWest to complete this stage of its project.
Alberta Health Services signed a contract with CanWest in September 2017 to provide service across most of the province, including this region, effective April 1, 2018.
CanWest received approval from Medicine Hat city council on Dec. 18 to lease 1.09 acres of land at the airport. CanWest agreed to construct at its own cost the access road and the taxiway from the existing taxiway network.
The cold weather notwithstanding, CanWest immediately commenced construction of a hangar. Fehr said he was amazed at what the contractor was able to achieve during the coldest winter in 25 years. Since the beginning of April CanWest has been operating with a hard surface gravel taxiway.
A connection for power to the hangar is still outstanding.
Since commencing operations on April 1, CanWest has been operating with a generator, which will always remain a backup option if there was ever a power failure, said Fehr.
“I anticipate within a month we should have electricity here,” said Fehr, pointing out a nearby power pole from which an underground supply to the hangar has still to be done.
Fehr has already arranged for a contractor to provide soil and reseeding of grass on the areas around the taxiway.
CanWest has plans to hold an open house for the public sometime in June. It will be an opportunity for the public to see the air ambulance aircraft up close and the facilities, said Fehr.
A total of eight pilots in Medicine Hat work for CanWest to provide the fixedwing air ambulance service. Even though there is only one fixed-wing air ambulance aircraft based in Medicine Hat, a total crew of eight pilots is necessary because they work on a two-week-on and two-week-off rotation and 12-hour onduty shifts.