New jobs for Calgary's aviation industry
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited is launching a new firefighting water bomber known as the DHC-515 that will be manufactured in Calgary, so they're hanging out a Help Wanted sign.
Mashal Mohammad is the plant manager for De Havilland's twin otter plane and says people are needed to fill many roles as manufacturing ramps up.
"We need people from aviation expertise like aircraft maintenance engineers, avionics, mechanics and structure specifically," he said. "Then we need everybody else in the background right? (That means) finance, quality, supply chain - you name it, we need people."
The new aircrafts' predecessor has been used around the world to fight forest fires for the last 50 years. The Canadair CL-215 and CL-415 haven't been produced for years and those in operation are undergoing modifications to add new technology.
WORK HORSE
Jeff Winger is the director of maintenance at the facility on the southwest corner of the Calgary International Airport where the work is being done. He says these aircraft are work horses in the air when it comes to fighting fires.
"This aircraft was specifically designed for fighting fires,"said Winger. "It has the ability to land on lakes, rivers, oceans, scooping approximately 7000 liters of water in a matter of 12 seconds."
MODIFICATION PROCESS
Technicians will touch every single part of the aircraft during the modification.
"Opening up the aircraft structures, strengthening the wings, strengthening the tail," he said. "Just overall reinforcing the structure due to some of the new light aerodynamic characteristics of the modified aircraft."
Karin Binder is the plant manager at De Havilland and is excited about the new manufacturing facility that will start producing aircraft sometime in the next two years.
"We offer a lot of opportunity for anyone looking to get into whether it's HR, whether it's IT," said Binder. "So in every facet of the organization, this growth means that there's a lot of good things coming."
In total the company is looking for upwards of 500 people.
"People that have been in the industry in the past or the new up and coming technicians and professionals that want to get into the industry," she said. "Because let's face it is pretty cool, it makes it all really, really exciting."
De Havilland says customers should start receiving their new DHC-515s by the middle of the decade.
Learn more about De Havilland here: www.dehavilland.com
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Conservatives poised to prompt marathon voting session on government spending
Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives are poised to prompt what could become an overnight marathon voting session in the House of Commons, signalling Thursday afternoon they plan to make good on their threat to delay the government's agenda by forcing votes on more than 100 line items from the latest spending plans.
Canada doubling cost-of-living requirement for international students
Canada will more than double the cost-of-living financial requirement for incoming international students on Jan. 1, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller announced today.
Flight safety in Canada is plummeting, a confidential UN agency report finds
A draft report from a United Nations agency gives Canada a C grade on flight safety and oversight, down from an A+ and far below most of its peers.
Russian girl shoots several classmates, leaving 1 dead, before killing herself
A Russian girl shot several classmates at school Thursday, killing one person and wounding five others before killing herself, state news agencies and authorities said.
'The Brick' is at the centre of our galaxy. An unexpected new finding may help unlock its mysteries
A box-shaped cloud of opaque dust that lies at the centre of our galaxy has long perplexed scientists, and observations that reveal a new detail about its composition are deepening the mystery — possibly upending what’s known about how stars form.
Amid concern over Canadians going hungry, Conservatives criticized for voting against school food bill
As Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre continues to voice concern over the increase in food bank usage, his party is being criticized by some for voting against a private member's bill that would advance a framework for a national school food program.
Canada being hit by 3 separate storm systems: Here's where
Winter weather is underway in parts of Canada with three storm systems bringing messy conditions from B.C. to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Von Miller declines to comment on domestic assault allegations after returning to Bills practice
Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller declined to take questions at his locker on Thursday, a week after turning himself in to police in a Dallas suburb after allegedly assaulting the mother of his children, who is pregnant.
Judge rules in favour of NBA star, nullifies purchase of $8M Burlington mansion once occupied by 'crypto king'
A judge has ruled in favour of NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in his lawsuit against a company that sold him a Burlington mansion previously occupied by self-proclaimed ‘crypto king’ Aiden Pleterski.