Canada-headquartered provider of helicopter MRO services Heli-One has appointed Christian Drouin as vice president of operations. Drouin will oversee more than 600 employees at the company's Canadian, Norwegian and Polish MRO facilities.

Drouin, a highly decorated military veteran, brings a keen understanding of the organisational and operational nuances of running multiple facilities with challenging priorities. He aims to use his experience with personnel and resource management to deliver excellence in helicopter maintenance services to customers. “It has been great to meet my colleagues at the different facilities; they are motivated, professional and dedicated. Each and every one of them I talked to is passionate about their work. I am excited to help lead Heli-One and look forward to challenging all of us to be leaders in what we do and to deliver quality services to our customers,” he says.

Drouin has a military background, having served 33 years which culminated in the rank of major general in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2016. Following this promotion, he oversaw approximately 300 aircraft across the Canadian fleet and managed more than 11,000 personnel. He also has accumulated over 4,000 hours of tactical helicopter flight time.

Drouin held multiple command positions as a general and completed a number of North American and overseas deployments. He held a number of leadership positions within the Royal Canadian Air Force including deputy commander force generation at 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region in Winnipeg, and deputy director of the Strategy, Policy and Plans Directorate NORAD and United States Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. From the governor general of Canada he received the Order of Military Merit - Commander level (CMM) and the Meritorious Service Medal for Leadership as wing commander in Afghanistan. He also received the US Legion of Merit for service in the United States of America for the defence of airspace of North America.

“We are excited to have Christian join our team and bring his knowledge and experience to Heli-One. His combination of fleet management and military operational experience are unique and I am confident his in-depth knowledge of aircraft and complicated operations will provide a number of benefits to our team and customers,” says president Eddie Lane.

Heli-One is based in Richmond, British Columbia and has MRO operations in Richmond, Canada; Delta, Canada; Stavanger, Norway; and Rzeszow, Poland. The company says it is the world’s largest independent helicopter MRO and holds certifications and expertise on a broad range of airframes and components from major helicopter and engine manufacturers including Airbus, Sikorsky, Leonardo, Bell, Safran, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric.

Heli-One is a segment of CHC Helicopter, the operating company of CHC Group.