The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 27

BUSINESS TIIKVANCOUVFK SUN, MONDAY, SliPTKMHUR 1, 2003 D3 (1 TAKING FLIGHT Westjet's share price since Jan. 1 Delta firm makes big splash S25 with hrehghting bucket $20 A A SAFETY I The Bambi Bucket isn't just a cute name it's the hottest firefighting tool in Canada Westjet 'only star in universe of black holes' BY SCOTT HAGGETT CANWEST NEWS SERVICE BY GORDON HAMILTON VANCOUVER SUN CALGARY ANALYSIS I Shareholders of West-Jet Airlines Ltd. have been having an excellent summer. While its rivals and peers in Canada and the United States flounder in bankruptcy protection, cut staff and worry about the glaring gap between what they're reauired to mv in Ten 1 1 "A4' SI ft i At Delta-based SEI Industries the? company that sup plies British Columbia's firefighting helicopters with those bright orange waterbags trailing beneath their bellies, there's no longer any need for a warehouse. Their product is flying out the door and into action on the firefront as fast as staff can turn out the coated fabric buckets.

The province's forest fire crisis has turned the plant into a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation, focussing world attention on the company's innovative Bambi Bucket, a firefighting technology developed here in B.C. that has revolutionized aerial firefighting worldwide. Bambi Bucket-equipped helicopters are often more efficient than fixed-wing aircraft in fighting fires, and the Interior crisis has become a global demonstration ground for SEI's latest innovations. "We are having trouble meeting the demand," says yni Jens Sigvardt, divisional ager for SEI as he checks a 1Z: Bambi Bucket that yj was completed moments ago lo I and is ready for testing. in the hour it will be bound for the Interior and before night- 8 i 1 sions and the value of their plans, Westjet has been enjoying business as usual.

It's posting profits and filling its planes in a vindication of the strategy of chief executive Clive who eled his airline after Southwest Airlines the U.S. company that pioneered the discount business. Since the Calgary-based airline reported its second-quarter earnings, its stock has gained more than 45 per cent, rising to Friday's 52-week high of $24.60 from more than $16 in July. During that time, the shares have posted the best performance among the company's rivals on the large-cap TSX 100 index, with ATI Technologies i Inc. coming in second with at 39- per-cent gain.

f' The rapid rise in the stock seems The economy isn't in great shapd The 1 impact of plunging tour1Srh10'vl brought about by SARS, weak industrial production and.the mad cow crisis caused Canada's: economy to contract in the second quarter for the first time in two years. As well, fuel prices are high as crude oil continues to trade y5 i Li fa Vv Hi rf dm ri mm 1 4a 1 Si -k If 'fir vr "4j above $30 US a barrel and the impending second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington is making some consumers think about whether they really want to book flights. Meanwhile, new discount airlines such as Jetsgo are trying to horn in on Westjet's action. Despite the industry's problems, Westjet shares continue to rise as it cements its role as the country's only airline investors -want to put money into.

"From an investment point of view airlines are pretty much off most people's radar screens," says Bill MacLachlan, a portfolio 1 manager at Calgary's Mawer Investment Management. "I am not aware of any investment manager who believes that any airline stock, with the possible exception of Westjet, is worth purchasing right now." Of course, Air Canada shares continue to trade, even as the company restructures its operations under court protection from creditors. Its stock is chang- ing hands at about $1.25 a share, i even though most analysts and rail it will be carrying water to thefireline. The Bambi Bucket is the brainchild of company founder and chief executive officer Don Arney, who developed it in the early 1980s by testing prototypes from his apartment balcony for local helicopter pilots. Now staff are working overtime, turning out 15 buckets a day, and volunteers have gone to the Interior to provide parts and repairs to crews on the firelines as the company struggles to meet the mushrooming need for the Bambi Bucket.

"This isn't just business; it's personal," says Sigvardt. "A lot of our staff have families in the Interior. These fires are hitting very close to home for a lot of us here." The long days are made easier, he says, knowing the work is doing a lot of good in controlling B.C.'s wild fires. The Bambi Bucket has captured 95 per cent of the global market for helicopter firefighting largely because it is collapsible, lightweight and easily stowable. It has a unique valve system that permits it to be filled within 50 seconds from a water source no more than 30 centimetres deep, decreasing turnaround time and making even the smallest creek a potential water source, The water can be injected with fire-retarding foam and dropped at a uniform pressure all at once or over a number of separate spots.

It is now the global standard. it S2 -V' 7) GLENN BAGLOVANCOUVER SUN Jens Sigvardt (above) conducts a test of SEI Industries' Bambi Bucket, a water bucket used to fight forest fires. A helicopter (right) uses one to drop a bucket of water on a smouldering spot next to homes threatened by fire In the Okanagan. investors acknowledge the equity will be worthless once it emerges from the restructuring process. U.S.

airlines are also struggling. United Airlines, owned by UAL is in bankruptcy protection as well. Its stock is now at about 75 cents US, down from more than $80 just three years ago and a number of its rivals have also seen their shares plunge. i Yet Westjet soldiers on, the beneficiary of a low-cost model that is keeping it profitable in hard times. It has a dedicated, non-union labour force, a single airplane type, the Boeing 737, that cuts maintenance costs and it's been cautious about expanding, slowly adding routes that have taken it from its Calgary base and given it a national presence.

With the U.S. economy on the mend and most observers reasonably sure that Canada will pick up as well, the business environment for Westjet is likely to improve, though whether its stock will continue to reflect that is anyone's guess. "It's a company that's doing well in an industry that's fraught with problems," MacLachlan says. "Westjet has been the only star in a universe filled with black holes." Calgary Herald Although the heli-bucket system may look frail and hardly the ultimate weapon in fighting the crowning fires racing through B.C. forests, consider this: SEI is still developing new technologies and has a bucket now in use in Russia that when flown in tandem on giant Russian MI 26 helicopters can drop 20 tonnes of water at once, rivaling the capacity of the mighty Martin Mars water bomber; Those orders are now on hold while employees focus on what B.C.

firefighters need, says Sigvardt. "We have a contract with the Russians and they have told us we can extend it for a month and a half. 'Deal with B.C. they said." Unfortunately, says Sigvardt, the big Russian choppers are not licensed for use in Canada, so the company's ultimate system is not in operation here. SEI is a world leader in disaster-relief technologies.

It has 110 employees in four divisions at its Delta plant, making everything from the Bambi Bucket to portable water and fuel tanks, portable containment berms for environmental protection, foam injection systems for dispensing aerial firefighting foam and fabric backpacks for ground firefighters involved in mop-up operations. All the products have unique names, says Sigvardt, part of the company's marketing strategy to develop brand awareness. The valve system that regulates the volume of water dumped is called Torrentula. The fabric fuel tank is called the Terra Tank ana the foam injection system is the Sack-safoam. "We have fun coming up with these plays on words," says Sigvardt.

Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia are the company's biggest markets, but SEI sells its products in 114 countries. This year, says Sigvardt, Europe has rivaled B.C. for demand. And once the rains do eventually douse B.C. fires, SEI's business is not expected to slow down.

"By October, the Australian fire season will be starting," he says. Sun Forestry Reporter.