Search
Search

Executive Brief

Vice President, Finance
Coulson Aviation

May 2024
<

About Coulson Aviation

About the Coulson Group of Companies

The Coulson Group of Companies is a family-owned business based in Port Alberni, British Columbia. After serving in World War II, Cliff Coulson returned to his roots in British Columbia where he began working in forestry. After working various jobs in the industry, Cliff founded Coulson Forest Products Ltd. in 1960.

Under the leadership of Cliff’s son, Wayne Coulson, what was once a small logging company has evolved into a conglomerate of companies working in a variety of industries including aviation, manufacturing, logging, dining, gaming, and environmentally friendly cleaning technology. Now, alongside his son Britton, Wayne is steering the Coulson Group as they continue their quest to “find a better way” with their ever-expanding innovation and technological breakthroughs. Safety, sustainability, viability, and environmental responsibility are key values of the Coulson Family as they grow their businesses locally and abroad.

The Coulson Group’s approach to business is simple. Honesty, integrity, and safety are the guiding principals that underpin everything they do. They always ask two key questions: “How can we help the most, and how can we do it better?”

Learn more about the Colson Group of Companies: https://coulsongroup.com/.

About Coulson Aviation

During the 1990s, the Coulson Group expanded into aviation and have become global leaders in aerial firefighting, emergency personnel transport and other heavy lift operations with an employee base of over 550 people along with a varying contractor services base ranging from 50 to 100 Contractors.

Coulson Aviation (Coulson Aircrane Ltd.) has full time operating business locations in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Chile leveraging its worldwide support staff during busy times to conduct audits and cross train over year-round fire seasons. The company has over 160,000 safe flight hours and has been in the aviation business for over 36 years; operating a diverse fleet of both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.

The company's operations have included helicopter logging, forest fire suppression, power-line construction, airliner passenger transport and many other industrial heavy lift operations. The fleet is geared for mobility and self-sufficiency and is supported by mobile fuel tankers and aircraft maintenance service vehicles staffed with qualified engineers. These aviation services are provided to clients on a "turnkey" basis.

Coulson Aviation (USA) Inc. was founded in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Coulson Aircrane Ltd. From 1990 to 1993 Coulson Aviation (USA) provided the personnel for extensive heli-logging operations in Alaska. In the succeeding years, Coulson Aviation (USA) purchased its first C-130 Hercules that currently holds contracts within the United States and Australia. A second C-130 Hercules was acquired for the program in 2015 to accommodate the growing need for large air tankers.

Coulson Aviation (Australia) PTY Ltd was created in 2010 to support Coulson Aviation's long-term operations and commitment to its Australian customers. It was setup as a wholly owned subsidiary of Coulson Aircrane Ltd. to provide aircraft personnel for Coulson’s rotary and fixed wing aircraft operating under contract in Australia for firefighting and offshore oil applications.

Mission & Vision

Mission

Protecting our world from forest fires.

Vision

To become the world’s most trusted Aerial Fire Fighting company, with a keen eye on professionalism, safety, and innovation.

Operating Groups

Coulson Aviation Group’s operating companies are broken down as follows:

 

As the Coulson Aviation Group continues to expand its complex operation in all countries, its systems and support infrastructure are critical to maintaining a high level of safety and quality. Coulson Aviation has built a matrix for all requirements for all the countries it operates in and conducts pilot training to the highest standards for maximum operational flexibility. This means all Coulson Aviation pilots are trained to commercial air transport requirements and all maintenance is done to a commercial carrier standard.

Coulson Aviation USA operates from its primary base in Thermal, California and maintains offices in Portland, Oregon.

Coulson Aviation is the industry leader with the knowledge, skill, and proven track record in supporting wildland fire suppression services and operations 24/7/365.

As the largest private international firefighting company, Coulson has relationships and routinely gets requests from Brazil, France, Indonesia, Italy, and Spain. Coulson has assisted some of the above in the past, however with nearly 100% of its fleet committed on long-term contracts aircraft availability on an ad-hoc basis is almost non-existent. Looking forward, Coulson is committed to continuing to drive innovation and produce newer, more capable aircraft.

Fleet

Coulson Aviation is a world leader in aerial firefighting innovation, providing meticulously serviced aircraft in order to safely and efficiently attack fires 24/7. The Coulson Aviation Group operates a mixed fleet of aircraft consisting of:

Learn more about the company’s growing fleet, here.

Manufacturing & Operations

One of Coulson’s biggest strengths is that it is vertically integrated. Coulson does everything from taking an older commercially or military run Aircraft and refurbishing it into a new state of the art Large Air Tanker. Coulson fully supports the entire modification through its Manufacturing and AMO certifications that involve everything from initial engineering and approval of the modifications, to completing the Avionics, Structures, and Mechanics for the modifications and putting the Aircraft into service. In this process, Coulson has its own Proprietary tanking systems for the Air Tankers modified. The applicable tank is mainly manufactured from start to finish, in house. 

Coulson Aviation leverages its specialized engineering know-how, deep aircraft platform expertise, experienced technical teams, and robust data and inventory management systems to develop and produce every product. Its in-house, multi-disciplined manufacturing team and commitment to innovation ensure the company’s technology and products are designed with exacting precision and unmatched quality.

Coulson’s capabilities include:

Coulson Aircrane Ltd. (Port Alberni, BC) operates a Business and Quality Management System certified to ISO 9001:2015 + AS9100D for the manufacturing of parts and assemblies, including post-delivery support.

Coulson full-service Operational offerings include pilots, flight engineers, mechanics and fuel truck drivers.  Coulson also provides all the support functions, such as Tech Records, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Purchasing, that are needed to support a fully integrated operation.

Coulson Aircrane also has an Approved Training Organization (ATO) - a newly certified program to obtain an AME-S Licence with Transport Canada. This is an important program that is a one of a kind in North America and it is what supports the current and future needs for Structures Technicians.  This program is designed to be a high-performance program that produces its own local talent, with future plans to expand the ATO’s offerings.

Leadership

Wayne Coulson

Wayne is the youngest son of Cliff Coulson who founded Coulson Forest Products Ltd. in 1960. Wayne began his career in 1978 in the Forestry and Wood Products business, before taking over the administrative side of the family business in late 1984. 

Under Wayne’s leadership as President and CEO, the Coulson Group has evolved into a provider of a wide range of management, support and technical services through eight operational companies. Over the last 55 years, the Coulson Group has consistently provided clients and customers with quality services and products, highly qualified technical staff and innovative support solutions.

The Coulson Group of companies is led and managed by Wayne Coulson and his son Britt. Since 2007, Wayne has been working alongside his son Britton Coulson, developing proprietary technology making Coulson a leading company in the global fight against wildfires. He has been actively involved with research and development, as well as quality control, operation, and inspections of the company’s state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring optimal functionality so and that it meets and exceeds all contractual requirements. His hands-on approach, along, with Britton, has proven to be a winning strategy accelerating Coulson Aviation to the forefront in the aerial firefighting industry.

Britton Coulson

Britton began his career in the aviation division of the company in 2004. He started working as a shipper/receiver in the stores department of Coulson Aircrane where he learned the foundation of the aircraft parts business. Through his innovation and dedication to always creating a better way, Britt quickly became an integral part of the aviation division, pioneering various successful products - all encompassed with the idea of generating more value for customers.

In 2019, Britt transitioned to Co-President of the Coulson Group. He spearheaded the NexGen Firefighting project through in-house innovation, proprietary technology, and the integration of new advanced intelligence systems to create a truly all-in-one ability to combat wildfires with maximum efficiency.

Britton’s dedication and continuous focus on innovation, along with his profound understanding of both aviation technology, and the concept of aerial firefighting, ensures that Coulson Group will remain at the forefront of this industry.

His dedication to advancement can be seen daily through his direct involvement in technology development, quality control inspections, as well as fire mapping/intelligence system operation and development. The NVG program allowing for the ability to fight wildfires 24/7 is just one of his many innovative ideas that is now a functional reality.

Learn more about Coulson Aviation and Coulson Group leadership, here.

Learn more about Coulson Aviation in the videos below

Submit CV

Thank you for your consideration of this opportunity. To apply to this position, click the Submit CV button below. Please note accommodation is available upon request for applicants with disabilities in the recruitment and assessment process.

Submit CV

<
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more