The Sault Ste. Marie Airport

as well as regional and small local airports, to any non-profit corporations, municipalities, or government agencies willing to take them over. According to Terry Bos, President and CEO of the Sault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corporation (SSMADC), there was no interest from the city, at the time. “It was losing, roughly, a million dollars a year while it was being operated by the federal government,” he recounts. “So, in April, 1996, a corporation was formed to do a feasibility study to determine if it was a viable option for a not- for-profit corporation to take it over and operate it. After the study was complete, and negotiations took place with the federal government, the Sault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corporation took over ownership and operation of the Airport on March 28, 1998. So, we’ve owned and operated the Airport for 21 years, and it’s no longer losing money.” Today, the Sault Ste. Marie Airport is exceptional in the fact that it is the only one of 23 regional, local, and small airports in Ontario that is owned and operated by somebody other than the municipal government where the airport is located. “We pride ourselves on being unique and I tend to think we do a good job,” Bos states. “The Board of Directors are local, so we can meet quickly and move quickly on any kind of business initiatives. We have no ties to the City of Sault Ste. Marie, and we get no operating funding from the city, the province, or the federal government.” In fact, the Airport provides most of its own services, including emergency response and firefighting, water supply, sanitary sewage treatment, snow removal, vegetation control, and facility maintenance and repair. It comprises 400 acres of airside land and has two 6,000-ft. runways. It is home to 15-18 general aviation aircraft, housed in two sets of Airport-owned T-hangars that have six units each, and two- privately owned GA hangars. It is served by two cargo carriers, FedEx and Skylink, and four commercial airlines: Air Canada, which offers daily flights to and from Pearson International Airport in Toronto; Bearskin Airlines, which is known for THE SAULT STE . MAR I E A I RPORT