“We aim to be the safest, most effective and most reliable ally possible in the battle against wildfires,” said Brett L’Esperance, Dauntless CEO. “We do that by attracting and retaining team members who identify with our core values of service, teamwork and professionalism; continuously expanding and upgrading our Fire Boss fleet so we’re bringing the best tools to every mission; and investing in our extensive company training program that has set the standard globally for Fire Boss excellence.”
For the third year in a row, the Dauntless Fire Boss training program spanned two weeks and involved every person in the company, including pilots, mechanics, crew chiefs, leadership and administrative staff. The 2023 program exceeded industry standards in three key areas.
Pilots logged the most pre-season flight hours of any aerial firefighting operator. Dauntless pilots new to the Fire Boss logged three times the industry standard for pre-season flight hours, flying roughly 25 hours each solo and with an experienced pilot in the company’s two-seat Fire Boss training aircraft. Combined, all Dauntless pilots flew 150.8 pre-season hours, exceeding the company’s own industry-leading standard of 141 total hours set in 2022. During that time, pilots completed 844 scoops and dropped 518,601 gallons of water.