About Swanson Group Aviation (formerly) Superior Helicopter

Superior Helicopter LLC was started as the aviation division of Swanson Group and Superior Lumber in 1995. Superior Lumber was founded in 1953 by the Swanson family with one lumber mill; today the Swanson Group encompasses several divisions with multiple mills and over 1300 employees. Swanson Group is still completely owned and run by the Swanson family.  Our name has just been changed to Swanson Group Aviation (SGA) to fit better in the corporate division structure of Swanson Group.

SGA/Superior Helicopter began as an in-house heli-logging operation supplying logs to the family mill with one Kmax helicopter. Superior was one of the very first operators of the Kmax helicopter beginning in 1996, and we are the world’s most experienced operator of this aircraft, averaging over 7000 hours per year on our Kmax fleet.

Today Swanson Group Aviation engages in all facets of heavy-lift helicopter operations on a worldwide basis, with missions ranging from heli-logging and environmental thinning to wildland firefighting and construction lift operations under all conditions. We also specialize in the airborne work environment with our Lama helicopters, as well as operating a fleet of log haul trucks.

Safety and being an OSHA SHARP Certified Company

SHARP stands for Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program. It is an OSHA certified safety program that is run in the Pacific Northwest and it recognizes companies that integrate safety from top to bottom as a basic tenet of corporate structure.

To be SHARP certified requires a two year rigorous ongoing audit of all corporate structure and programs and a total commitment to safety and excellence as judged by outside OSHA auditors. SHARP-certified companies are held as the gold standard for other businesses in their respective field. Of the 88,000 companies in the Northwest that are eligible for SHARP certification, only 91 are certified.

Swanson Group Aviation is the only logging company, the only heli-logging company, and the only helicopter company that is SHARP certified in the United States.  SGA is now in our second year of certified SHARP recognition by OSHA.

Our commitment to workplace safety in an inherently difficult working environment is total and ongoing.