Airborne Energy Solutions (AES), with headquarters in Whitecourt, AB operates helicopters in remote locations where communications are either limited or non-existent. This makes flight following difficult and ineffective. This, and the desire for a reliable system to fill the safety void that existed started AES’s search for a flight following vendor.

Looking for a system and a company that was reliable, provided technical and hardware support as well as updated software led AES to choose the ISAT-200 for their install. When asked why SkyTrac was chosen over various competitors, Chief Pilot Todd Tkach responded, “The SkyTrac system has no borders or boundaries and allows us to monitor our aircraft, crews and clients wherever the mission takes us. The SkyTrac team’s knowledge and confidence in their product really stood out compared to their competitors and the product itself does exactly what it is supposed to do.”

The ultimate goals with a flight following system are to see improvements in operational efficiency and safety, and post install AES has seen a dramatic improvement in late check in situations. AES has incorporated a text messaging procedure and real time flight following with company dispatchers. Now when a late check in occurs, there are several options available to ensure that pilots and passengers are safe or to determine if an actual emergency has occurred that required an immediate response. AES also utilizes the tracking system information to assist in incident investigations.

When asked about their experience with SkyTrac, Tkach responded, “The team at SkyTrac from sales, service and tech support is second to none! Too often in today’s age you find the service and support poor or non-existent; SkyTrac offers onsite training as well as updates and updated training at conferences such as HAC and HAI as well as an open door policy at their Kelowna office.”

Kathleen Wallace, President and CEO of SkyTrac Systems commented, “We are pleased to welcome Airborne Energy Solutions to the SkyTrac family. It is exciting to watch a large scale install such as this, and see the difference it makes to their company. We look forward to continuing to work with AES.”

About SkyTrac

SkyTrac is the world’s trusted supplier of SatCom solutions for data, text and voice communications. With customers on every continent and from all areas of operation, from Oil & Gas to Air Medical to Law Enforcement to Search & Rescue, SkyTrac provides market leading solutions to market leading companies. SkyTrac has acquired a long list of Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) and the company’s hardware has been installed on a large number of rotary and fixed wing aircraft types from AgustaWestland, Eurocopter, Cessna, Bell, Sikorsky, MBB, Beechcraft, de Havilland, LearJet and Raytheon.