25 years later, Sault Airport still flying on its own

In 1994 it was decided, under the federal government’s National Airports Policy, that ownership of the Sault Ste. Marie Airport (which opened in 1964) would be offered to provincial and local governments or private businesses.

As a result, the Sault Ste. Marie Airport Development Corporation (SSMADC) was formed in 1996 and took over ownership and operation of the airport in April 1998.

A year later, a FedNor grant led to an Algoma University business administration graduate named Terry Bos being hired at the airport on a one-year internship.

Nearly 25 years later, Bos is the Sault Airport’s longest-serving manager.

“They decided they needed a business and land use master plan so that’s where I came along,” Bos recalled, speaking to SooToday.

“At the end of the year, they were impressed with the work I had done on the plan so they kept me on in a marketing position.”

Bos climbed up the ladder over the years.

He was promoted to SSMADC manager of finance in Nov. 2002 and became the airport’s manager on July 1, 2004.

In July 2010 he became the SSMADC CEO, then its president in 2015.

With support from the SSMADC board of directors, Bos moved to add an increasing number of tenants to the airport’s property as a revenue stream.

Runway Park was one such source of revenue.

“We came up with the concept of the park to be an all-season event venue,” Bos said.

SSMADC still owns Runway Park, now operated by Ryan Nolan and Nolan Motocross Academy.

Runway Park is a motocross racing area and training ground as well as a multi-functional event location.

“We operated that for a number of years. In my spare time when I wasn't at the airport, I was over at Runway Park on weekends running events there and then we decided it was time to have somebody else to take on that position,” Bos said.

SSMADC’s tenants currently include aircraft maintenance company JD Aero, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), the Sault College aviation program, Air Canada, Bearskin Airlines, Porter Airlines, Humphrey Aircraft Services, car rental agencies, limo and cab companies, and a number of other private tenants.   

The airport’s terminal now has added restaurant Hogan's Homestead and barbershop The King’s Lounge as new tenants.  

Bos is a very hands-on president and CEO, involved in the airport’s day-to-day operations and business development plans.

Algoma University, in recognition of his work as the airport’s manager, awarded him with a distinguished alumni award in 2013.

Bos said he sees a slow recovery period for the airport after COVID, projecting it will take five to seven years to fully bounce back from the pandemic’s effect on SSMADC’s passenger numbers.

“Obviously we have been a very successful privately owned and operated regional airport and we didn’t have any support from any municipalities to get through COVID but we’re still here and we’re still operating,” Bos said.

“The City of Sault Ste. Marie decided at the time (in the 1990s) that they didn’t want to operate an airport. It was an airport that was losing a million dollars a year, roughly. No one else was stepping up so our corporation was formed,” Bos said in an earlier interview with SooToday in 2021.

“The corporation and the board of directors have always been there. They knew there was a strong enough business case put together that they could pull this off. The team that was put together did the job and we’re still here today.”

It was feared by some that the community would lose the airport altogether in the 1990s but those fears flew away.

“I would say we did a pretty good job building up the corporation that we have. We’ve come a long way from when I first started here, for sure,” Bos said.