28 AIRLINER WORLD APRIL 2018
The equipment types and the flying
are quite diverse as well. Of course,
our safety record – touch wood –
and generally our operational perfor-
mance has been positive, so I think
the organisation does have a good
reputation in the market. It helps.”More Opportunities
Conversely, Jazz’s footprint and
strong Air Canada connection work
against it in one very important area.
Opportunities to provide regional
lift for another airline – as Republic,
SkyWest and others do in the US – are
slim in Canada. The other big player
in the Canadian market is WestJet,
which operates its own regional sub-
sidiary, Encore.
“We’ve been looking for some trans-
border opportunities but flying within
the US is problematic from an own-
ership perspective,” Randell report-
ed. “The whole idea of doing contract
flying elsewhere is something that is
really of interest to us, but there are
restrictions because of the ownership
rules. However, Voyageur does a
significant amount of contract fly-
ing in Africa for the UN and the WorldFood Programme. It also has some
clients in Europe and the Caribbean
under contract flying arrangements.
“As we grow Chorus Aviation Capital
[CAC], our leasing business, we’re able
to offer a full suite of services including,
potentially, flying services for periods
of time, plus support, knowhow and so
on,” he continued. “This is where you
really start to understand what the
synergies and the cost relationships
can be within the business.”
This might appear to create a case for
all future aircraft purchases to go into
CAC’s fleet – even if they are for use by
Jazz Aviation – so that all the ‘metal’
is within one element of the group.
However, Randell believes it is unlikely
and pointed out why.
“I think if it’s not going to Air Canada,
then new aircraft for third parties
would generally go through CAC, but
with Air Canada we’ll look at the pros
and cons and various other options.
There are considerations with respect
to tax provisions, so we don’t have a
hard and fast rule,” he elaborated. “It
will be whatever makes the most sense
for each particular situation.”
In fact, Jazz Aviation does not ownevery aeroplane it operates. “We fly
several aeroplanes that are actually
leased to Jazz from Air Canada – some
of the CRJ900s, some of the older CRJs
and, in fact, about ten of the Q400s.”
Additionally, when some types
are removed from the CPA with Air
Canada, they can still pull in revenue
for Chorus. The Dash 8-100s are a case
in point, as Randell explained. “We
either use those aeroplanes in Voyageur
for our contract flying services, or we
lease to third parties – small carriers in
Canada that are not Air Canada
regionals. We have even converted
two into package freighters (see Airliner
World, July 2017) and we’ve actually
parted-out quite a number of them.”Maintenance, Repair and
Overhaul Services
With Chorus Aviation Capital now
having a portfolio of aircraft types
beyond just the Bombardier family
flown by Jazz, the Group’s MRO
operation – Jazz Technical Services
(JTS) – is preparing to expand its
capabilities to support the leasing
company’s fleet, including aircraft
transitioning between customers.“As we grow Chorus
Aviation Capital [CAC], our
leasing business, we’re
able to offer a full suite
of services including,
potentially, flying services
for periods of time, plus
support...”
Joe Randell, President and Chief Execu-
tive Officer of Chorus AviationABOVE RIGHT • One of
three Bombardier Q400s
being leased by Chorus
Aviation Capital to Abu
Dhabi-based Falcon
Aviation Services –
the turboprops are
being sub-leased to
Kazakhstan operator
Qazaq. QAZAQTOP RIGHT • Jazz
Technical Services’
principal role during the
first year of operations
was to support Chorus
Aviation Capital, the
company’s new
leasing arm.MAIN IMAGE • Jazz
Aviation provides Air
Canada Express with
70% of its regional
airlift.An engine inspection is
undertaken by a Jazz
Technical Services
engineer.