According to an article at KXIF, this year the air tankers operated by Neptune Aviation have flown twice as many hours compared to the same time last year.
The company has 12 tankers under contract, six P2V’s and six BAe-146’s, plus two of each that can be cycled in as maintenance is required.
Below is an excerpt from the article:
…The company’s “P2V” prop tankers, and “next gen” jets have already flown more than 1,000 hours, starting with the first firefighting assignments in the Southeast US back in February.
“Three or four years ago we had six contracts for the P2s and the jets weren’t flying. So this year we’ve got six of the jets and six of the P2s under contract,” Neptune Aviation CEO Ron Hooper said. “They’re all out very busy. And we’ve got two of each as our maintenance aircraft. We can cycle the aircraft in and out as maintenance is required.” …
That story actually came from KPAX TV in Missoula, Bill. KXLF is our sister station in Butte.
Love your blog and all the work you do!
Dennis Bragg
Anchor/reporter
KPAX TV
Missoula