Willard Hagen remembers exactly how he got started.
I got started right out of university. I had my private pilots licence and while I was university I got my commercial licence. I was flying float planes through the summers. I was getting a degree in Biology at the time.
Because of his background in Biology and flying, Hagen was hired on to help conduct wildlife surveys. Five years later, he began a small operation called Aklak Air. That move launched careers in both business and eventually, politics.
I started with one Cessna 185, on floats in the summer and skis in the winter. All straight bush-flying.
Now, as the owner of BeauDel Air and former owner of Aklak Air, the Inuvik entrepreneur is still enjoying great success.
I built Aklak Air from one small plane into a nice operation to over 24 airplanes and 100 employees. He says, attributing the airlines success to the oil boom in the Delta during the 70s and early 80s.
When the Inuvialuit settled their land claim, Hagen sold his operation to the new government. A non-competition clause in the sales agreement prevented him from continuing in the industry for five years, but hardly dampened his entrepreneurial, adventurous spirit.
He built a lodge northeast of Inuvik and lived there for three years.
His success as a businessman caught the attention of local Gwichin leaders eager to find solutions to the failed Comprehensive Dene-Metis Land Claim of 1990. Convinced his experience could help the people of the region, Hagen found himself elected as President of the Gwichin Tribal Council.
I was never interested in politics, and never had any indication I wanted to go into politics, but somehow, I found myself as President. He chuckles, casting a long glance towards the lake that fronts his property in Inuvik.
He served as President for almost 7 years and during that time, helped negotiate the Gwichin Land Claim. The foray into politics served only to heighten his business interests and after starting BeauDel Air, Hagen found himself flying the friendly Delta skies once more.
Now, I do strictly bush flying. Wheels, skis and floats. Hunters, trappers, fishermen, canoeists, tourists. Now, were back in the pipeline phase again where I started 27 years ago. A smirk crosses his face as he reflects on the journey life has taken him.
While he admits anyone thinking of getting into aviation may face stiff challenges because of new policies governing the industry, he says anyone with a passion can succeed.
You have to love it. You stay in it because it is very, very challenging. Returns arent necessarily always there. But you look at the float plane, and the lake and breeze and the sun, and its like that for a thousand square miles. Youre out there winging over all this land its a love.
And Hagen clearly loves what hes doing.
