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Silver King Helicopters: Quality First

By Lisa Gordon

Published on: January 21, 2022
Estimated reading time 19 minutes, 41 seconds.

Silver King Helicopters celebrates its 10th anniversary with a renewed commitment to careful, calculated growth backed by an incomparable level of experience.

Photos By Heath Moffatt

Ten years ago, Silver King Helicopters’ one and only aircraft was landing on a makeshift helipad situated on the septic field at Ryan and Missy Hinds’ rural property near Smithers, B.C.

The company works primarily with the mining industry, moving drilling equipment to job sites or ferrying instruments and geologists to remote work areas.

Looking back, the couple recalls those early days when their business was in its infancy. They lived in a converted 600-square-foot (55-square-meter) shop and had sunk everything into launching Silver King Helicopters, specializing in the mineral exploration market.

“When we first started out, it was just the two of us,” recalled Ryan, the company’s operations manager/owner and a 12,000-hour pilot who began flying helicopters in 1996. “We really didn’t have anything. We decided to take the risk of starting a company and we laughed, because we knew we wouldn’t have a facility for a while.”

Utilizing Ryan’s contacts from over a decade of mineral exploration work and Missy’s business background, the husband and wife duo launched Silver King Helicopters in the midst of a mining industry depression.

Silver King Helicopters CFP Missy Hinds and CEO Ryan Hinds stand outside their company’s hangar in Smithers, British Columbia.

“People thought we were crazy,” added Missy, the company’s chief financial officer and co-owner. “But the key for us has always been maintaining steady, calculated growth.”

By 2013, that strategy was paying off. The company built a small office at Smithers Airport and added a 14,000-square-foot (1,300-square-meter) hangar the following year. Gradually, its fleet grew, too — the initial Airbus Helicopters AS350 B2 was joined by others, and today the company operates six of the type, as well as three AS350 B3s. 

The company owns six AS350s and leases three others, all in utility configuration.

Ryan said the AS350 is the best choice for Silver King’s precision flying in the mountainous terrain surrounding Smithers, a northwestern B.C. town of more than 5,000 people. 

“It’s really the most efficient intermediate helicopter out there. The cost per hour is very competitive and the performance is great with the B2 and especially the B3.”

The company owns six helicopters and leases three, all of them in utility configuration in order to be as lightweight as possible. 

While it specializes in the mineral exploration market, Silver King Helicopters performs a variety of vertical reference precision flying. During the winter, aircraft are busy with heli-skiing and avalanche control work. Other missions include film production, search-and-rescue, wildlife capture and relocation, aerial construction, airborne geophysics and general tourism flights for flyfishing and other pursuits. 

Silver King CEO Ryan Hinds at the controls of one of the company’s AS350s. Hinds is a 12,000-hour pilot who began flying helicopters in 1996.

Silver King also has extensive aerial firefighting experience, but Ryan said the needs of the company’s exploration clients come first. 

“We fight fires when resources permit,” he explained. “That’s part of our commitment to our clients. This past summer, we got calls from new exploration clients because they were losing their helicopters to firefighting.”

Altogether, 14 high-time pilots fly for Silver King. They are a select group, chosen carefully for their precision longline and winter operational experience. Ryan told Vertical these kinds of pilots are few and far between — and if they were more plentiful, Silver King could accelerate its growth.

“We’ve only grown the company based on the availability of experienced people we know well,” he said. “We look for 3,000 hours of flight time and up, and when we do hire someone, it is a group decision. We sit down with our staff and find out who knows this person and what they know about them. We don’t hire on a whim, and this has really paid off for us. Our customers appreciate the quality.”

The Hindses do everything they can to ensure all 25 of their staff members enjoy working for Silver King. Pilots and engineers work two weeks on followed by two weeks off. During the busy season, they have the option to pick up more work if desired.

Hinds said the AS350 is the best choice for Silver King’s precision flying in the mountainous terrain around Smithers.

“We want everyone to be paid well and be happy,” said Ryan. “From the outset, this was our philosophy. It costs us more money, as some operators do three weeks on and one week off. But it’s worth it.”

Despite the scarcity of experienced longline pilots, Silver King Helicopters has seen substantial growth over the last decade. In 2019, the Hindses doubled their office space to just over 2,000 square feet (185 square meters).

“Now, we drive to our office at the airport and we can’t believe it,” laughed Missy. 

Ryan attributes the company’s success to its personalized approach. As owners, he and Missy interact with their exploration clients daily. 

“Whether it’s arranging catering for a VIP group, organizing storage facilities or providing good quality drilling companies to complete the exploration program, we do it,” he said. “There is such high demand right now; a drilling company can really make or break a helicopter mining operation, as well as the drill pad builders. We have a partnership with a geophysics company and provide logistics and support for them.”

Challenges and Opportunities

From the moment they named their new venture “Silver King” in honor of a scenic basin within a nearby mountain range — and the fish they love to catch in their free time — Ryan and Missy Hinds have maintained a steadfast focus on top performance.

One of the company’s AS350s helps supply a remote mineral exploration camp.

Running a tight ship has paid off in recent months. The Hindses have confronted a number of challenges, not the least of which was the global Covid-19 pandemic.

“Early on, we weren’t sure of the landscape,” said Missy. “[The 2020] heli-ski season was cut short, and our second season was cancelled. Our main goal during the whole thing was to keep our people employed and we were super happy we were able to do that. We used [government] resources if we absolutely needed them; otherwise, we were proud to stand on our own two feet.”

The pandemic has necessitated procedural changes when it comes to camp and crew movements. 

“There are strict protocols in place,” explained Ryan. “We can’t take pilots and move them from job to job, because of Covid protocols in the mining industry. So, we’ve had to adapt.”

Like other Canadian helicopter operators, Silver King is also confronted with rising insurance rates, with that bill skyrocketing by more than 40 percent in one year. In addition, Ryan explained the company is competing against operators that are subsidized by large national conglomerates working locally in Western Canada.

From left: Nick Kirk (AME), Ryan Hinds (CEO), Sara Pearce (pilot), Duncan McFee (chief pilot), Lily Rashid (dispatch), Tracy Torunski (logistics coordinator), Niomi Mio (health and safety), Ian Grover (director of maintenance).

“Their rates are so low,” he said. “When you do the math, you know they are subsidizing it through their construction company, and that hurts us local folks. Our expenses are going up — parts are charged in U.S. dollars and we have rising insurance costs. We are a proponent of trying to increase rates and still be fair and competitive.”

Aside from costs and competition, the Silver King Helicopters team is also concerned about impending revisions to Canada’s fatigue risk management regulations for pilots. 

“It’s a very big concern for us and all helicopter operators in Canada,” noted Ryan. “The government is trying to establish those regulations for the airline pilots, in terms of duty days. But for us, enforcing those regs will actually make it worse.”

Strict Covid protocols in the mining industry mean that pilots can’t move from job to job. Silver King had to adapt its procedures accordingly.

He explained that the new regulations, which will come into force on Dec. 12, 2022, for air taxi and commuter operations, will necessitate the hiring of more pilots to maintain the same amount of business.

“We see companies hiring less experienced people. That will 100 percent result in an increase in accidents or incidents and we’re very concerned. We don’t know what we’re going to do and it’s a huge problem in the industry. We are committed to quality and experience and don’t want to be forced to hire less experienced people.”

While they have their eye on the regulatory landscape, Silver King Helicopters is also examining new opportunities, including out of country work. The company is currently certified to perform geophysics and specialty mining work in the U.S., and Ryan said Alaska is an area of interest.

The company is named “Silver King” in honor of a scenic basin within a nearby mountain range.

As they explore new revenue streams, Ryan and Missy Hinds remain committed to their original recipe for success: calculated growth and quality service facilitated by highly experienced personnel. 

“We are so focused on quality all around,” said Missy. “Quality in our facility, people, equipment and shop vehicles — and quality in our client relationships, too. We are available to our clients and interact with them personally. I think that’s a big thing; they don’t need to talk to the dispatcher all the time.”

Silver King is certified to perform geophysics and specialty mining work in the U.S.

For Ryan, it comes down to the fact that everyone at Silver King Helicopters loves what they do. As natives of northern British Columbia, both he and Missy have a healthy respect for mountain operations, with safety as their primary focus. 

The Brucejack Mine—a high-grade gold underground mine in northwestern British Columbia.

“We focus on the details, without sacrificing our level of experience and quality,” he concluded. “I think that model has served us well, maintaining a modest operation. We keep our eyes on the road and focus on the future.” 

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