Manitoba's Top Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 20
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MANITOBA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Community spirit leads to success at Calm Air
J
esse Normore had just
started working as a
customer service agent for
Calm Air International,
the regional airline
headquartered in Winnipeg,
when he wanted to make a
change. Based in The Pas, he was
working part-time as the airline
does just one flight a day into the
airport.
“The craziest thing was that a
month after I started, I realized I
wasn’t working enough. I wanted
to be there full time,” Normore
says. And Calm Air came through.
Normore talked to his supervisor
and got posted to cover the desk in
Flin Flon. In three months, he was
working full-time.
Calm Air occupies a unique
niche among Canadian airlines,
flying in and out of Winnipeg
to destinations like The Pas and
Flin Flon, as well as Churchill,
Thompson, Rankin Inlet, Gillam,
Naujaat, Coral Harbour and
other routes in the north of the
province and Nunavut. It demands
a different attitude and set of skills
than an average airline.
Tim Kroeker, vice president
A customer service agent at Calm Air International.
of maintenance at Calm Air,
talks about the crews he sends
to do maintenance on planes in
northern locations, which requires
special equipment such as
heaters when working in extreme
temperatures.
“Our employees look after
each other,” he says. “We value
safety first and foremost and our
employees encounter unique
challenges working in the North.
Polar bear safety is something we
have to consider, as well as the environment and low temperatures.
We need to ensure our employees
know how to handle these types of
situations and are equipped with
the right protective equipment
and have received appropriate
training.”
It’s absolutely
vital in the North to
be connected in the
communities.
— Tim Kroeker
Vice President, Maintenance
Normore describes the personal
touch that’s at the heart of the airline’s workplace culture, in which
staff provide “a curb-to-curb
service where a lot of passengers
are elderly or flying for the first
time.”
His job involves sometimes
meeting passengers at their car
and answering questions and
booking flights from the check-in
counter. “They’re talking to the
person they’re going to see that’s
going to be checking them in. It
comes down to that community
feel. We know a lot of our customers because we have lots of regular
fliers and we know their needs.”
Kroeker stresses the importance
of community. “It’s absolutely
vital in the North to be connected
in the communities. Everybody
works together when it’s minus
40 out and you’re trying to fix an
airplane. You sometimes need a
hand, and you sometimes lend a
hand to the people around you.”
With this in mind, Calm Air
works hard to retain employees
and strives to promote internally
as it expands its routes. Kroeker
