Thunder Bay-based Wasaya Airways have snagged a 25-year aviation management veteran as its new president-CEO. Michael Rodyniuk took the controls of the First Nation-owned air carrier on June 8.
He succeeds Tom Morris who retired after 21 years.
Rodyniuk spent the first week on the job flying to stations across northwestern Ontario, touching base with established clients and many of the carrier’s employees.
“I’ve been out meeting with our larger charter customers and scheduled customers and making sure that they understand that we’re here for the long term.”
Rodyniuk had been vice-president and COO of the aviation arm of Exchange Income Corporation, the Winnipeg parent company that purchased Bearskin Airlines in 2010.
Prior to that, he was COO and senior vice-president at Winnipeg Airports Authority and has held revenue, marketing and sales management positions at WestJet Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Swiss Air Group.
In an interview, Rodyniuk painted a picture of blue sky optimism that begins with shoring up its core market and examining future opportunities for expansion beyond being a small regional player.
In taking the job, Rodyniuk believes Wasaya has a great potential to be both profitable and offer a high level of service with the ability to geographically grow its operations in any direction.
“It’s an airline that has a very unique regional niche, but at the same time it’s gotten greater potential to appeal to the more mainstream Canadian traveler.
The mix between the two is really quite attractive.
“But there’s a focus that needs to be placed on our core market that we currently serve and making sure that we give them the very best possible service.”
Wasaya Airways LP is headquartered in Thunder Bay with bases in Sioux Lookout, Pickle Lake, and Red Lake. With a fleet of 18 aircraft, Wasaya provides scheduled passenger, charter, freight and fuel services to 25 destinations.
Last year, Wasaya has received national attention for all the wrong reasons with media reports of Transport Canada safety violations, growing debt, and concerns about improper use of a company credit card by a senior manager. A restructuring process started last fall, beginning with the layoff of nearly 50 employees.
Rodyniuk said many of those internal issues have been largely cleaned up.
“There’s still some work that we need to do to regain our customers’ and our guests’ confidence back. We can tell them all the good things that we’re doing, but it comes down to showing them that we’re as good as we say we are.”
Rodyniuk brings extensive knowledge and experience in working with First Nation communities in northern Manitoba.
With flights are far north as Fort Severn on the Hudson’s Bay coast, he believes Wasaya is “absolutely capable” of continuing to exist as an independent carrier despite not receiving any federal subsidies. A new business plan leaves the door open for partnerships and alliances that reach out into more mainstream markets.
He envisions eventual growth into Western Canada.
“It’s something we’ve already had discussions with folks west of here. We would be remiss if we didn’t take a look at that.”
Rodyniuk hopes to foster a new attitude where employees are passionate about their jobs.
“We’re creating an environment in an airline where people want to come to work, where our investors are pleased with the results that we’re producing, and our guests and shippers are feeling good about the level of service that they receive.”
With a current staff of 320 employees, he expects Wasaya to be hiring in all areas of the operation. “We expect to grow once we’ve gotten our foundation established, and we expect that to be within six to eight months.”
