Big Country Helicopters is derived from Jim Van Sky’s first business, Big Country Communications, which dealt with radio communications focusing primarily on two-way radios. The local hospital used his two-way radios for communication between life flight and the hospital. It is critical for hospitals to be able to communicate with their life flight helicopters, so they are prepared for emergencies. During an extremely bad winter, a control tower went down in the mountain. Because of Jim’s radios, they were able to quickly fix and solve the problem. Jim has always been interested in flying but never had the time or money to take flying classes until just recently after working with the hospital and life flight to fix the control tower.
The business has expanded into a variety of areas within the helicopter industry including scenic tours, aerial survey of construction, aerial photography (often for real-estate), and cherry drying. With the strong development of the Pacific Northwest region the helicopter industry within the area has amazing potential for growth.
Because of this potential, a few months were spent investigating the operations of Big Country Helicopters in order to discover how Van Skye could further capitalize on the industry. The details of the findings include the methodology of research, an analysis of the data, a discussion of the results, and a set of strategies based off of the SWOT.
Big Country Helicopters is a small, locally owned business located in Coeur d’Alene Idaho that started in March 1994 by entrepreneur and helicopter pilot Jim Van Sky. The aircraft used by the company is a 2007 Robinson R-44 Raven which seats three passengers and the pilot. Big Country Helicopters is certified through the Federal Aviation Administration ( ...