Evergreen International Aviation

History

Delford M. Smith (1930-2014) founded the company as Evergreen Helicopters in 1960. Smith was involved in the development of the commercial use of helicopters, and his company was one of the first to use helicopters for spraying fertilizer and herbicides, spreading seeds and fighting forest fires. Smith helped develop a helicopter spray system called the "PaceSpreader" which permitted accurate, fast delivery of granular agents over large areas. The PaceSpreader allowed the helicopter to operate at relatively high speeds while still delivering the product evenly and with measured precision. In 1972 the company expanded into the use of heavy lift helicopters, acquiring a number of Sikorsky S-61. In March 1973 the massive Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane was added to the fleet, with a lift capacity of 20,000 pounds.

In 1974 Smith became aware that the Johnson Flying Service was looking to sell its assets. The business was a small supplemental carrier that had two 94-passenger Lockheed L-188 Electra four-engine turbo-prop passenger aircraft. More importantly, it held a supplemental air carrier operating certificate which allowed it to operate as an airline. After significant deliberation, the Civil Aeronautics Board approved the transfer in 1975. Evergreen International Airlines was officially formed and incorporated on 16 April 1975 as a subsidiary of Evergreen Helicopters, Inc. The business subsequently continued to expand and split into a number of subsidiary divisions. The main subsidiary was Evergreen International Airlines which operated the Boeing 747 as a cargo or tanker aircraft to destinations around the world. The 747-200 "Evergreen Supertanker" can deliver 20,000 gallons of water on a fire, nearly ten times what can be delivered by a conventional forest service tanker such as the Lockheed P-3 Orion.

Scheduled passenger airline operations

The airline division conducted some scheduled passenger operations as well over the years with Douglas DC-8 jet and Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop aircraft and also operated a commuter airline operation in southern California as Evergreen Airspur with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter STOL turboprops.

U.S. government work

Evergreen was part of the US Civil Reserve Air Fleet and the International Peace Operations Association. It was known to do work for the United States federal government, including fire suppression for the U.S. Forest Service, troop transportation in the Gulf War of 1991, as well as helicopter transportation for oil rig firefighters at the end of hostilities. The company provided aviation services for the Central Intelligence Agency as well, including transporting the Shah of Iran from Panama to the United States in 1980.

Sale of Evergreen Helicopters

Evergreen Helicopters was sold to Erickson Air-Crane in March 2013 for $250 million. The sale provided Evergreen International Aviation with the liquidity needed to continue operations. Smith said: “The sale of EHI provides us with needed capital to repay existing debt and gives us the liquidity to support our airline and remaining businesses." The deal was contingent upon Erickson Air-Crane obtaining the necessary financing.

Demise

On November 8, 2013 Evergreen International Airlines, a subsidiary of Evergreen International Aviation, announced via a voicemail to their employees that all operations would cease effective November 29, 2013.

In 2014, Evergreen declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy and began a liquidation of assets, including its headquarters campus in McMinnville.