Rhys Eyton

Born in 1935 and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia Rhys studied commerce at UBC, and then pursued a business degree at the Universtiy of Western Ontario. Western, based in London, Ont., had strong ties to the insurance industry, and it should come as no surprise that a bright, young graduate like Rhys soon found a position with London Life Insurance.

In 1963, he joined the accounting firm Thorn Riddell and Co. But wanting, as he put it, “to do something more challenging,” Rhys began taking a chartered accountant’s degree in his evenings. His hard work paid off after a chance meeting with Pacific Western Airlines chairman, Bruce Samis, who was suitably impressed by Rhys’s training and personality. Samis offered him a job at PWA in 1967.

The airline, started by ‘Russ’ Baker (CAHF, 1975) in 1946 as Central British Columbia Airways, had grown steadily in the postwar era. By the time Rhys was hired, it was the biggest regional provider in Canada, and the country’s third largest air carrier. Rhys worked first in the Finance (Treasury) area, where he impressed senior management, including president ‘Don’ Watson (CAHF, 1974) and, after about nine months, he was transferred to the northern division of PWA, working out of Edmonton as Assistant Director. To capitalize on increased oil development, Rhys introduced new services and aircraft, which included the first jet flights to Inuvik and extensive Hercules Charter services into the northern archipelago.

As newly appointed VP Northern Region in 1970, he spearheaded the development of the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife and turned around the chronic money losing Byers Transport trucking division, which he ultimately sold to the employees in a clearly win-win arrangement.

In 1974, Peter Lougheed’s Progressive Conservative government purchased PWA for $36 million — the Alberta premier considered transportation a fundamental industry for a landlocked province in Western Canada. Lougheed’s government brought the airline’s headquarters to Calgary. PWA had been prized in B.C. and the province was not happy to see it leave. Nor were some of the airline’s staff; Watson resigned in protest.

Chairman Rod McDaniel turned to Rhys to fill the presidency, which he quickly accepted. Getting immediately to work, Rhys determined that his first task as leader was to streamline the operations of the organization. Despite PWA’s impressive four-decades of growth, the airline had arguably expanded too broadly. Rhys ended its involvement in worldwide freight and rationalized the aircraft fleet. “Why,” he asked, “have we got four different aircraft with four different parts supplies and four different pilot and mechanic training requirements?”. The strategy worked; by one account, profits tripled.

Rhys then set Pacific Western’s sights on a new challenge – expanding beyond the regional market. The airline would have to grow, but in order to do so, it had to convince the Canadian Transport Commission that PWA should be allowed to compete on longer haul domestic routes previously granted exclusively to Trans-Canada Airlines (later Air Canada) and CP Air (Canadian Pacific).

In 1978, PWA merged with Transair, a partnership that expanded Pacific Western’s reach east into Manitoba. Over the next few years Rhys led the company as it reshaped its operating fleet and scope of service — moves that resulted in increased profitability, thanks in part to new routes linking Calgary to Brandon and Toronto and the success of existing ones, especially its Edmonton-Calgary airbus service.

The 1980s proved that Rhys was no fair-weather leader. When the bottom fell out of the Alberta oil market, a market on which PWA heavily relied, the airline could have crippled itself by remaining over-extended. But Rhys made the difficult decision to tighten the company’s belt, and quickly. As McDaniel later recalled, “Rhys showed tremendous decisiveness. … [he] cranked PWA back so that it survived. Under less able management, it would have gone under.” Such belt tightening and the ensuing negotiations with labour groups led to another challenge: a prolonged strike that encompassed nearly one half of the total airline workforce. It was a stressful and difficult period that lasted from December 1985 into April of the next year; the strike only ended when both sides eventually agreed on a cost-cutting plan.

Despite a difficult economy and a challenging labour market, PWA under Rhys’s leadership continued to set its sights on renewed growth. The Alberta government had sold 85% of its stake in the airline in 1983, putting Rhys and his team in an increasingly flexible position as the federal government embraced deregulation. Having successfully expanded service across Western Canada, through competition and mergers with feeder networks such as Time Air, Rhys then conceived of and executed an innovative plan to take the company to new heights. In 1986 he orchestrated a complex sale and leaseback arrangement with Ireland’s Guinness Peat Aviation for sixteen of PWA’s Boeing 737-200s. The deal raised approximately $300 million, giving PWA the necessary capital to purchase the second biggest player in the Canadian commercial airline market: CP Air.

Rhys had foreseen for some time that it would be difficult for Canada to sustain multiple large-scale commercial carriers. Consolidation was critical and, the acquisition of CP’s domestic network effectively included the acquisition of the networks of Quebecair, Nordair and Eastern Provincial Airlines.

Pacific Western’s footprint had suddenly expanded dramatically. Rhys and his team thus began the critical task of refashioning multiple airlines into one. Fleets, maintenance, operations contracts, and cultures all had to be harmonized. Rechristened Canadian Airlines, the company grew again following a merger with Wardair.

Rhys was appointed Chairman, President, and CEO of Canadian Airlines International in 1989. Strong and continually changing world and domestic aviation currents would again demand that Rhys take a firm hand in determining the future of Canadian Airlines. In 1994, he oversaw one of the largest consensual financial restructurings undertaken in this country involving creditors from around the world, employees, and governments at all levels. The restructuring, which was ultimately approved by the Federal regulator, included a large conversion of debt to equity coupled with an infusion of new equity from American Airlines and the employees through a share purchase program. The resulting ‘fresh start’ balance sheet positioned the company for future growth and Rhys Eyton to become non-Executive Chairman in April of 1995 and to retire as CEO, a role he had held for 18 years.

A competitive and inspiring leader in the commercial aviation industry, during his time with PWA and Canadian Airlines, Rhys served in senior executive roles with the Air Transport Association of Canada, the Conference Board of Canada, and as President of the International Air Transport Association, among many other positions. Colleagues and employees alike often remarked on his vision, his integrity, and the compassion and personal interest he showed them.

Rhys was supported throughout his career and into retirement by his wife Lynn. The two married in 1962 and would eventually welcome four children and four grandchildren. After a busy and eventful career, in retirement Rhys and Lynn moved to North Saanich on Vancouver Island, where they enjoyed a slower-paced rural lifestyle. They made the most of their new home’s gorgeous views and the beautiful walking areas that surrounded them. A passionate golfer and fisherman, as well an amateur handyman, Rhys was also an art lover, and he used his newfound leisure to take up painting – embracing retired life with the same enthusiasm and commitment he showed in the board room.

Any future analysis of the history of the development of commercial aviation in Canada will comment on the significant contribution of Rhys Eyton. As former Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu observed in nominating Rhys for induction into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, “Rhys Eyton is one of Canada’s true aviation pioneers. He developed a grand vision to reshape PWA from a regional carrier into a national and global airline. In the execution of this plan, Mr. Eyton transformed the Canadian Aviation industry.”