From the fall 2013 issue of The Dalhousie Engineer

If you want to break the ice with Joe Randell (BEng (Industrial)’76), ask the president and CEO of Chorus Aviation and its wholly owned subsidiary Jazz why he is so passionate about the airline industry. Without hesitation, he’ll tell you it’s the way it brings people together. “It connects everyone,” Randell elaborates. “We have the ability to move people all over the world, to be in different places. Also, there’s a romantic aspect to flying.”

Randell’s passion for aviation is still going strong nearly 40 years after he started his first student work term at Air Canada. He’s been through every change and challenge you can think of – startups, restructures, mergers – and his devotion has never once wavered. Today, he oversees Canada’s largest regional airline and the country’s second largest airline by fleet size. As he sums it up, “When you get to work in a business that holds a deep attraction for you, that’s very rewarding.”

Aspiring to fly

Even so, it’s not quite the career trajectory that Randell had in mind while he was growing up in Corner Brook, NL. He wanted to be a pilot, an aspiration stirred in part by his grandfather, who took Randell along when travelling for the electrical contracting company he owned and to visit relatives in the United States. “I was keen on scheduling, logistics, design, efficiency and the use of technology in the industry.” he recalls “These are all elements at the core of industrial engineering.”

And so in 1974, during his third year of engineering studies at Memorial University, Randell decided to transfer to the industrial  engineering program at the Nova Scotia Technical College. The two years that followed weren’t easy, but he says they prepared him to take on the challenges of leading companies like Jazz and Chorus.

“That’s the great thing about the program: it really prepares you to succeed in any field. It comes down to the emphasis on applying analysis and logic to every situation. We were encouraged by our professors to delve into root causes and deal with issues in a comprehensive way. That really came in handy back in the days when I was planning airline schedules.”

Though Randell didn’t get his pilot’s license, he has proven to be an accomplished captain of the airline industry, starting with the foundation of Air Nova in 1986. Drawing on research projects he’d done while earning his MBA at Memorial, he convinced a small group of entrepreneurs to go in on this new venture and built it into a success. So much so that when Air Canada merged the local carriers it owned, which included Air Nova, he was asked to lead that initiative. That led to the creation of Jazz. And when Air Canada decided to spin off Jazz, it was Randell who guided the company’s successful arrival in the publicly traded markets.

Navigating these changes wasn’t always easy. One of the bigger challenges Randell has faced as a leader is how to motivate people during tough times. “It’s easier to do that when you’re starting or growing a company because that feels good. But I think I’ve been able to draw on my education and experience to encourage people to embrace change when things aren’t good. If not, we wouldn’t be here.”

Soaring to success

Jazz has continued to soar under Randell’s leadership, posting operating revenues of $1.7B in 2012. The company operates approximately 740 flights daily to 54 Canadian cities and 25 destinations in the United States as a contract carrier for Air Canada, carrying 30,000 passengers every day. With that kind of performance, it’s no surprise that Randell has also been asked to provide direction to other industry organizations. A past chair of the National Airline Council of Canada, Randell is currently the only non-American director on the US-based Regional Airline Association. He is a director of Discovery Air, which provides aviation and logistics services, and a member of the Atlantic Gateway Advisory Council. His accomplishments have also earned him honours such as induction into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. But he maintains that the recognition he values most comes from his team. “When the people you work with are feeling good and motivated in what they do, that’s the best.”

Randell also values family time. He and his partner, Norris Boudreau are – no surprise – avid travellers and outdoor enthusiasts. He’s father to four grown children and about to be a grandfather for the fourth time. “I’m really happy to be healthy and to be able to enjoy life,” he says.

And he still enjoys his work, which means he won’t be handing over the reins of Chorus and Jazz to the next generation any time too soon. “As long as I see that I can add value, I’ll stay. We have a great executive team with great potential successors. I want to see these companies grow and diversify, so they continue to be a place of opportunity for others.”

But will he ever get around to earning that pilot’s license? Randell laughs. “Maybe I’ll just let someone else fly me around,” he says. Like every great  leader, he knows when to delegate.