Millard Properties: Locations and Ownership

[SnooperDuper]

Respectfully snipped and bolded by me -

You have provided great information to date SnooperDuper, but would appreciate a link to the bolded portions above.

Who is advising DM these days on the hanger and what are they advising?

Don't know who is advising DM, but he has liquidated 94% of his real estate holdings outside of the hangar. We know this from the real estate information that is in the press.

The MRO consultants approached WM? Or the other way around?

Did not know a consultant was an 'unemployed professional' restlessly roaming the earth - do you have a link to this conclusion?
I'm hoping my husband will go into consulting when he retires in 18 months - more as a hobby to keep him busy (and out of my hair) rather than full time employment which he has done enough of in his lifetime. Seems rather harmless to me but could use the advice if it's a mistake.

Tia

I don't think it matters at all who made first contact with who, but only who persuaded who in the end and how.

A consultant is not an employee, and only contracts to a company for a limited term. Consulting does not mean part time work for for an employer that pays wages and benefits. If you are a consultant your employer is you, and you pay your own wages by contracting to sell your skills to another company. If you do not sell, you do not earn, and you may as well go and get a job.

Keeping in mind that consultants are by definition, in part, salespeople, and that people like AS with a job title of Business Development Manager are undeniably sales people, sales is a large part of consulting.

One of the benefits of setting yourself up as CEO of a consulting firm is that you obscure all of your patchy employment by claiming yourself as your own steady employer. In an industry like the airline industry that cyclically purges a large number of jobs, setting up a consulting company is one of the few ways to make it appear that you have steady employment through your career, even if that is truly impossible within the industry because of strong boom bust cycles.

In other words, in industries like automotive, aviation, etc. being a full time consultant is just smoke and mirrors. Some of the time you are making twice the money in half the time of a job and at other times you are nothing more than an unemployed bum on extended vacation once again, but luckily your resume does not show that, because you are employed by you, even if you can't pay you.

That's why I joke that a consultant is an unemployed professional, because consulting can obscure gaps in employment and consultants can really be a special kind of aggressive salesperson. Or in other words, a consultant without a contract is no more than an unemployed professional.

Luckily the MRO consultants that hooked up with WM found a source of income in WM.

I have a a consulting co., brother does, father does, etc. so I gained this cynical perspective firsthand.

 

[iPhoneGuy]

Or in other words, a consultant without a contract is no more than an unemployed professional.

Good analogy. Or as I would put it... A consultant is a white collar contractor.

 

[Kamille]

RK was the sales guy for Millardair at one point in time, trying to get someone to sign a contract with them.

I think it is very interesting to go over LinkedIn and see all the people who worked for Millardair, and how many of those admit to it.

RK, and AS, both have no mention of Millardair on their LinkedIn profiles. I think both were in sales oriented positions and both failed and both left with a really bad taste in their mouth about the whole thing.

So, RK, AS, did the MRO fail because you two sucked as sales people, or because the project was fundamentally flawed (no market demand for MRO's)?

Or option 3, because the person who was supposed to be running the show was sleeping in until noon, refused to participate in meetings with potential clients or clear out the hangar to make it look presentable to potential clients? In other words, he used the hangar for his own purposes (just as he had with the old one at Pearson) and deliberately made sure that the business never got off the ground so he wouldn't have to be bothered trying to learn about and run a business he had no interest in. I'd say murdering his father would have been the ultimate assurance of that. He was probably angry at the amount it cost to build the hangar. I'm sure he wanted one, he'd always had one to "play around in" but the size and cost of the one that was built had cut into more of the family coffers than he cared for and it was looking to be just a cash drain with all the staff that had been hired. Not to mention he probably didn't want all those people around "his hangar". For most of his adult life it appears that he had a large unused hangar to have his parties and work on his toys in. Maybe he just wanted the same thing with the new hangar. Had he not been involved in the death of TB that's probably what the hangar would be used for today. He'd cover the lease with his real estate buy and sell profits and have his own personal playground.

MOO

 

[SnooperDuper]

Or option 3, because the person who was supposed to be running the show was sleeping in until noon, refused to participate in meetings with potential clients or clear out the hangar to make it look presentable to potential clients? In other words, he used the hangar for his own purposes (just as he had with the old one at Pearson) and deliberately made sure that the business never got off the ground so he wouldn't have to be bothered trying to learn about and run a business he had no interest in. I'd say murdering his father would have been the ultimate assurance of that. He was probably angry at the amount it cost to build the hangar. I'm sure he wanted one, he'd always had one to "play around in" but the size and cost of the one that was built had cut into more of the family coffers than he cared for and it was looking to be just a cash drain with all the staff that had been hired. Not to mention he probably didn't want all those people around "his hangar". For most of his adult life it appears that he had a large unused hangar to have his parties and work on his toys in. Maybe he just wanted the same thing with the new hangar. Had he not been involved in the death of TB that's probably what the hangar would be used for today. He'd cover the lease with his real estate buy and sell profits and have his own personal playground.

MOO

Honestly I think the MRO was pretty well running itself. Why DM would have to be around would be the change orders. E.g.,

We're digging a hole related to the hangar and hit a huge rock. We, the builders, need a bigger piece of equipment to dig that out, and then we need to backfill the oversize hole. It's going to cost $X to bring in the big digger and Y billable hours to get things back on track.

Now workers could have come up against the rock at 8:30 am and if DM doesn't show up until noon to approve the extra charges plus the Z billable hours spent waiting for him to show up...

Basically any deviation from a construction contract, anything that is going to increase or decrease the cost of the project, needs to be signed off by the site owner. In this case it is DM.

So when you ask, why were there $1.6M in cost overruns, yeah, you might ask if DM's less than timely participation in the project had something to do with it.

 

[MsSherlock]

Don't know who is advising DM, but he has liquidated 94% of his real estate holdings outside of the hangar. We know this from the real estate information that is in the press.

Snooper- actually, no one needs to be advising DM at all. If MB has POA over DM's affairs, she wouldn't need his approval to liquidate anything. She simply signs as MB, POA for DM. Done deal. For as much as we know, DM may not know anything is sold, unless of course he has TV, radio or the newspapers. IMHO, he'd have a hard time retracting the POA because who else is out there that can do this for him?

Luckily the MRO consultants that hooked up with WM found a source of income in WM.

I have a a consulting co., brother does, father does, etc. so I gained this cynical perspective firsthand.

IMO Snooper, to make your statement read true, would mean that if the consultants weren't working for WM, they wouldn't be working for anyone else and making money. JMHO, but I think actual consulting firms like the one that WM hired would have many pokers in many fires at all times-similar to engineering firms. WM knew the aviation world. It was his money-he knew the risks. It's somewhat a stretch to say that WM was being taken advantage of.

From my vantage point, I would say if WM was anything, it was that he was hoping from the bottom of his heart that his son really wanted to work. Perhaps DM was constantly draining the Millardair bank account- buying cute little incinerators and equipment for his next car project along with a condo or two? It's hard to imagine a guy like DM adhering to any type of budget. IMO, DM had not contributed one iota to CM or WM's cash reserves. Here's hoping that the Millardair accountant hits the stand in this case. MOO

 

[SnooperDuper]

IMO Snooper, to make your statement read true, would mean that if the consultants weren't working for WM, they wouldn't be working for anyone else and making money. JMHO, but I think actual consulting firms like the one that WM hired would have many pokers in many fires at all times-similar to engineering firms. WM knew the aviation world. It was his money-he knew the risks. It's somewhat a stretch to say that WM was being taken advantage of.

Yes I am just trying stuff on. Were the MRO consultants desperate and willing to sell a rosy picture to WM regardless of the actual outlook? It seemed to me that there were MROs closing and casting this type of professional out of work at that time (2011). If there were no demand for MROs, and customers can fly anywhere to visit one monthly (infrequent need) why set one up in Waterloo?

The sales guys, the business development guys, AS and RK, did not deliver a fuel contract, or a maintenance contract, and I guess AS admitted to AB that he had not had any prospective tenants by either. Specifically, these guys were hired and paid to sell this MRO to clients and they failed. That's why they do not have MillardAir on their LinkedIn. And it looks like they were held to task, because they did not linger for years doing nothing.

Being in on something that did not go well is never a pleasure and I am sure DM did not have a good relationship with the sales guys in particular.

But it may have been that the economic climate was such that no one was interested in what AS and RK had to say.

I'm sure that WM understood the industry was highly cyclical, and was tantalized by the idea of getting in on something from the ground up.

Then we have DM, who posted that he was interested in Accounting on his Facebook page, and made sure the Star knew that when the cops first came the question him, he was having his accountant question the finances at the hangar.

The hangar was at least 125% of budget, and between LinkedIn hits, WM and DM, AS and RK, that's 10 people and probably more (as they were angling for 13 on their careers page) anyhow 10 people drawing money from the operation.

DM used all of his magical accounting powers and determined that he must stop spending on the hangar, dead. Otherwise he and WM were going to have to sell some properties to support the hangar. So we know that happened there.

It is ironic now then after WM's murder, the only property DM is hanging on to, is the hangar.

DM by being a lazy goof certainly would have increased the cost overrrun on the hangar. When WM and DM hit the cash crunch in 2012 where they were looking at having to liquidate a property to serve the costs of the hangar...well remember DM and WM are both heirs, they are both fooling around with CM's money. CM went to work every day until he was dead while WM took time off to save the animals. WM and DM weren't fighting over WM's money, they were fighting over CM's money, within a week of the old guy's birth and death.

I don't think WM thought he was being taken by anybody, even though not everyone would have chosen to make the investment he did. And hey, the building is tenanted and collecting rent.

DM however seems to have calculated certain doom with his accounting skills that he gained from...?

I feel, when DM declared he felt 'taken advantage of', he thinks he was victim of a bad business deal. His new-found poverty made him steal.

From my vantage point, I would say if WM was anything, it was that he was hoping from the bottom of his heart that his son really wanted to work. Perhaps DM was constantly draining the Millardair bank account- buying cute little incinerators and equipment for his next car project along with a condo or two? It's hard to imagine a guy like DM adhering to any type of budget. IMO, DM had not contributed one iota to CM or WM's cash reserves. Here's hoping that the Millardair accountant hits the stand in this case. MOO

hear hear!

 

[Alethea Dice]

This could be interesting later on imo.

Not long before the hangar and farm were purchased, my mother-in-law helped her grandson buy a property (my stepson). His father kicked in a lesser amount. The requirement with the lawyer was, a statement of how much was each kicking in and where it was coming from. No such statement was required 10 years earlier when we purchased our property.
This did not concern us at the time (thankfully) but did give me insight that new laws were in place to make the money easier to track backwards on property purchases when needed by LE - ie drug money etc.

Seems to me these 2 Millard properties will have the same statement on record imo. So whatever was stated at the time needs to be proven - ie from a legit source (earnings etc). Good luck with that DM.

Really? I worked in mortgages over 20 years ago and it was a requirement then. You have to show the lender whether the funds are a gift or a loan so that they can determine debt ratios and whether they are willing to provide the amount of mortgage that is needed. The buyer always had to show proof of where the down payment came from.

 

[Alethea Dice]

Whoever is advising DM these days seems to be advising him to hang on to the hangar, rather than dump it the way had DM had wanted to in his ignorance.

DM didn't want to get rid of the hangar, just the MRO business.

Wood says he last met with Dellen Millard in March, three months after he had taken over the company following the death of his father, Wayne Millard.

They talked about Millard’s plans for the future of the company, which Wood recalls as potentially including a new tenant or different commercial business within the confines of the 50-year lease.

http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/activity-at-millard-air-hangar-not-what-airport-boss-expected-1.1302652

 

[Kamille]

Yes I am just trying stuff on. Were the MRO consultants desperate and willing to sell a rosy picture to WM regardless of the actual outlook? It seemed to me that there were MROs closing and casting this type of professional out of work at that time (2011). If there were no demand for MROs, and customers can fly anywhere to visit one monthly (infrequent need) why set one up in Waterloo?

The sales guys, the business development guys, AS and RK, did not deliver a fuel contract, or a maintenance contract, and I guess AS admitted to AB that he had not had any prospective tenants by either. Specifically, these guys were hired and paid to sell this MRO to clients and they failed. That's why they do not have MillardAir on their LinkedIn. And it looks like they were held to task, because they did not linger for years doing nothing.

Being in on something that did not go well is never a pleasure and I am sure DM did not have a good relationship with the sales guys in particular.

But it may have been that the economic climate was such that no one was interested in what AS and RK had to say.

I'm sure that WM understood the industry was highly cyclical, and was tantalized by the idea of getting in on something from the ground up.

Then we have DM, who posted that he was interested in Accounting on his Facebook page, and made sure the Star knew that when the cops first came the question him, he was having his accountant question the finances at the hangar.

The hangar was at least 125% of budget, and between LinkedIn hits, WM and DM, AS and RK, that's 10 people and probably more (as they were angling for 13 on their careers page) anyhow 10 people drawing money from the operation.

DM used all of his magical accounting powers and determined that he must stop spending on the hangar, dead. Otherwise he and WM were going to have to sell some properties to support the hangar. So we know that happened there.

It is ironic now then after WM's murder, the only property DM is hanging on to, is the hangar.

DM by being a lazy goof certainly would have increased the cost overrrun on the hangar. When WM and DM hit the cash crunch in 2012 where they were looking at having to liquidate a property to serve the costs of the hangar...well remember DM and WM are both heirs, they are both fooling around with CM's money. CM went to work every day until he was dead while WM took time off to save the animals. WM and DM weren't fighting over WM's money, they were fighting over CM's money, within a week of the old guy's birth and death.

I don't think WM thought he was being taken by anybody, even though not everyone would have chosen to make the investment he did. And hey, the building is tenanted and collecting rent.

DM however seems to have calculated certain doom with his accounting skills that he gained from...?

I feel, when DM declared he felt 'taken advantage of', he thinks he was victim of a bad business deal. His new-found poverty made him steal.



hear hear!

I don't know where you're getting the information that the business was a bust or that they didn't have any potential clientele. I was under the impression that within the month that WM died, they had completed the work on the building, hired staff, they were setting up for a grand opening and AS was confident that he had potential clients ready to survey the hangar if only DM would get his crap out of it. I saw advertisements in airline magazines and other literature about the new Millardair MRO. People in the industry were talking about it on airline forums. WM didn't seem to be concerned and wasn't the one questioning whether AS could bring in clients. DM was, after dragging his heels about the whole thing all along. He's the one who called for a private meeting between him and AS. And perhaps he didn't like what he heard in that meeting, perhaps AS really did have a list of potential customers who were coming to view the hangar and DM realized this was really going to happen, staff were already showing up at the hangar for work. His father was dead less than two weeks later, all the staff had been let go and DM started dismantling the business pretty much right away. Then he continued to use the hangar as his own personal playground for him and his buddies, possibly including bringing TB's stolen truck there to stow it in a trailer.

And it doesn't surprise me at all that they wouldn't want this situation on their resume. Who would want to answer questions about all that? Not to mention they probably can't because they're on the witness list.

MOO

 

[MsSherlock]

Really? I worked in mortgages over 20 years ago and it was a requirement then. You have to show the lender whether the funds are a gift or a loan so that they can determine debt ratios and whether they are willing to provide the amount of mortgage that is needed. The buyer always had to show proof of where the down payment came from.

There are new requirements within the past decade. FINTRAC- it's the Federal Governments anti money laundering regime. Anyone and everyone has to show where the money is coming from. Cash transactions over $10K have to be reported. Government approved photo ID has to be provided as well.
http://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/intro-eng.asp

 

[Sphinx]

Naw, I think their problem is going to be, an Employee of Millardair called up and ordered and incinerator and had it delivered to Millardair and that incinerator was later used to hide the death of TB. So one might sue Millardair.

Yes, I think some lawyers are already thinking about lawsuits against the Millard family, and Millardair, in order to gain money for the families of DM's victims. In Sharlene Bosma's case he killed her husband, and the father and of their two yr. old daughter. Tim was the family breadwinner, so the lawsuit will be huge. In the case of LB, I am sure her family can sue as well, although loss of income may not be an issue. Both of these families can make claims for horrendous mental suffering because of the agony experienced looking for missing loved ones, then having to live with the certainty of their violent deaths. If WM had other heirs, and I am not sure there are, they might be able to sue as well. There won't be anything left of DM's inheritance IMO. I am not a lawyer, so correct me if I am wrong.

 

[swedie]

Or option 3, because the person who was supposed to be running the show was sleeping in until noon, refused to participate in meetings with potential clients or clear out the hangar to make it look presentable to potential clients? In other words, he used the hangar for his own purposes (just as he had with the old one at Pearson) and deliberately made sure that the business never got off the ground so he wouldn't have to be bothered trying to learn about and run a business he had no interest in. I'd say murdering his father would have been the ultimate assurance of that. He was probably angry at the amount it cost to build the hangar. I'm sure he wanted one, he'd always had one to "play around in" but the size and cost of the one that was built had cut into more of the family coffers than he cared for and it was looking to be just a cash drain with all the staff that had been hired. Not to mention he probably didn't want all those people around "his hangar". For most of his adult life it appears that he had a large unused hangar to have his parties and work on his toys in. Maybe he just wanted the same thing with the new hangar. Had he not been involved in the death of TB that's probably what the hangar would be used for today. He'd cover the lease with his real estate buy and sell profits and have his own personal playground.

MOO

:goodpost: Kamille.

 

[SnooperDuper]

I don't know where you're getting the information that the business was a bust or that they didn't have any potential clientele. I was under the impression that within the month that WM died, they had completed the work on the building, hired staff, they were setting up for a grand opening and AS was confident that he had potential clients ready to survey the hangar if only DM would get his crap out of it. I saw advertisements in airline magazines and other literature about the new Millardair MRO. People in the industry were talking about it on airline forums. WM didn't seem to be concerned and wasn't the one questioning whether AS could bring in clients.

I don't think the fact that they had advertisements out there looking for clients can be used to show that there were clients to be had, and actual demand for a MRO. In fact there were other bands of consultants out there attempting to set up MROs at the same time. Also, there was buzz about the hangar, yes, but some of those voices were saying it looks crazy to me.

One senior executive at an Ontario-based flight-training company, who did not want his name published, was touring on his motorbike one day last fall when he spotted the new hangar and pulled in to take a closer look. “It was empty, not a soul around, no cars. I was scratching my head and thinking I’m not getting this,” he said. “I just can’t see a business model that makes sense for a hangar of that size at that airport despite what they may have said to the airport authority.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/31/millard-aviation-business-in-decline-long-before-tim-bosma-murder-suspect-started-to-dismantle-it/

The Region of Waterloo kicks in $6M a year to keep the airport running because the airport is not self supporting. The number of flights running out out of YKF per year since 1997 from Stats Can, where green is good, a big number, and red is bad, a low number:

http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a47

You can see air traffic peaked with the stock market and internet 1.0 in that green patch. Now if there were to be another tech boom in Waterloo region maybe we would see air traffic like that again. Otherwise it is likely to be a long slow climb to regain those sort of numbers. The red patch of course refers to the recession that threw all the MRO guys out of work and on to the streets as consultants.

I don't think you are going to get an unbiased answer about the sales potential re: the MRO from the sales manager that failed to sign a deal. In sales, what other excuse is there, than if I just had more time?

And so DM's got crap in there...where is all CM's crap? I heard he had a shipload of it. I think what was inherited from CM, was likely a larger mass of junk, than what DM had. Say you have a 100 classic cars worth $10k each, that's $1M but you need 100 buyers to unload them to. The Toronto hangar situation sounded like Sanford & Son and no doubt they took it all with them to Waterloo.

The hangar was found fit for occupancy on Feb 23, 2012, but MillardAir did not get their Transport Canada certification for the MRO until Nov 1, 2012. It must have irked DM that the building was ready, but they were waiting on paperwork for 8 months.

But then hey, I have worked with the government, on one project all three project leads (this is democracy) on their end had multi-month psychiatric hospitalizations due to stress and we had to shut down May-Oct so that everyone could take their 3 month vacations, two years in a row. You never know how long it's going to take.

It looks like they were taking on additional staff as of September 2012 and at least one is still employed there.

DM was, after dragging his heels about the whole thing all along. He's the one who called for a private meeting between him and AS. And perhaps he didn't like what he heard in that meeting, perhaps AS really did have a list of potential customers who were coming to view the hangar and DM realized this was really going to happen, staff were already showing up at the hangar for work. His father was dead less than two weeks later, all the staff had been let go and DM started dismantling the business pretty much right away. Then he continued to use the hangar as his own personal playground for him and his buddies, possibly including bringing TB's stolen truck there to stow it in a trailer.

And it doesn't surprise me at all that they wouldn't want this situation on their resume. Who would want to answer questions about all that? Not to mention they probably can't because they're on the witness list.

MOO

Well the hangar was 125% of budget, $1.6M overspent, and since September there were staffed and paying for that, and I think DM saw that the hangar and MRO had sucked up all the cash, they were now paying out a full payroll, and AS had no one ready to sign anything.

It is only the former sales staff (AS, RK) that do not have Millardair on their resumes. All the other guys who worked there from Sept 2012 on, do.

 

[SnooperDuper]

There was a project for a new MRO in Windsor ongoing in 2011 as well.

In 2012 Aveos went bankrupt; they had MRO's in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver and put 2,600 MRO types out of work.

There was both soft demand, and competition.

 

[SnooperDuper]

I am going to add that there was just no downside for the Region of Waterloo and the Waterloo International Airport. Because of the recession, the Region and the Airport were eligible to receive millions in infrastructure funding from the provincial and federal government. All they needed was an investor to kick in some seed money and start an audacious project that would justify the funding the Region and Airport went on to apply for. WM's investment at YKF was a huge positive in that way, so if you ask anyone from the Region or the Airport they are going to say:

“From our perspective it was solid,” airport manager Chris Wood said.

“It was a legitimate investment when it came to the airport,” Regional Chair Ken Seiling said.

http://www.therecord.com/sports-story/3244013-public-cash-supported-failed-hangar-plan/

 

[Kamille]

There was a project for a new MRO in Windsor ongoing in 2011 as well.

In 2012 Aveos went bankrupt; they had MRO's in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver and put 2,600 MRO types out of work.

There was both soft demand, and competition.

Well I just don't see DM doing all that research to see whether the business was viable. That would be giving him a lot of undeserved (IMO) credit for actually doing something logical. And it was never given a chance so we really don't know whether it would have been viable. I can imagine it would have been a big cash drain for at least the first year but who's to say how it would have went when it was never really started. The family had a respected name in the industry and as such could probably call on a few favours to tide them over. I don't think DM even had a clue what it was all about nor did he want to.

I don't think the hangar at Pearson was ever operational as a business in his adult memory and I think he liked having the place as somewhere he could go with his friends and do pretty much anything he wanted to in it. Not to mention the prestige of being a rich kid and having a hangar that he could do anything he wanted with along with the family name and history. He now had people telling him what to do, his father trying to push him into a "career" he didn't want because he had other plans for his life and he didn't like it. IMO

I also believe that most of the "junk" leftover from CM was long liquidated with the rest being removed in the demolition. I actually saw a picture of an old MillardAir plane at some other airport "graveyard" but I can't find the link at the moment. We've seen pics from the inside of the new hangar and it doesn't look like there is any old "junk" there. Just DM's new junk. I'm sure WM took care of all the stuff from CM.

This article, posted by AltheaDice upthread is a good indication of just what was going on at the hangar after WM's death...

Airport general manager Chris Wood says he never saw those planes, but did see a mixture of smaller aircraft and non-aviation items.

“I haven’t seen activity consistent with what was indicated on their lease … ever,” he tells CTV News.

“It’s not a functioning operation as was originally conceived by Mr. Millard.”


Even if large-scale aircraft weren’t finding their way into the Millard hangar, some materials were.

One company that made regular deliveries to the hangar tells CTV News the deliveries suddenly stopped the day after Bosma’s disappearance.

There was no further contact between the company and Millard Air until last week, when the employee the company always dealt with showed up and said it would be business as usual beginning this week.

The company says it was skeptical about that claim, and locked the cash-only account in Dellen Millard’s name over the weekend.

Read more: http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/activit...airport-boss-expected-1.1302652#ixzz2ytWFEdJF


So what business was going on at the hangar after WM's death that had regular deliveries going there? And who attempted to continue that business after DM's arrest? And what kind of business deals in cash only?

 

[flipflop]

So what business was going on at the hangar after WM's death that had regular deliveries going there? And who attempted to continue that business after DM's arrest? And what kind of business deals in cash only?

Not too many businesses deal with cash only today..... illegal activity does not want a paper trail, is the only thing that comes to mind.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Well I just don't see DM doing all that research to see whether the business was viable. And it was never given a chance so we really don't know whether it would have been. I can imagine it would have been a big cash drain for at least the first year but who's to say how it would have went when it was never really started. I don't think DM even had a clue what it was all about nor did he want to.

Well to us it is research, but DM was right there at the airport, he would hear the gossip.

The guy killed one person, fired at least 6 more from their jobs over this...that does not sound like someone who was disinterested or lacked an opinion. That sounds like someone who was passionate and angry.

I don't think the hangar at Pearson was ever operational as a business in his adult memory and I think he liked having the place as somewhere he could go with his friends and do pretty much anything he wanted to in it. Not to mention the prestige of being a rich kid and having a hangar that he could do anything he wanted with along with the family name and history. He now had people telling him what to do, his father trying to push him into a "career" he didn't want because he had other plans for his life and he didn't like it. IMO

Well there were 2 hangars at Pearson, one leased to Air Transat, the other being the Millardair base of operations where CM still showed up for work until he died. No they weren't running an airline anymore but they were still running a business.

I also believe that most of the "junk" leftover from CM was long liquidated with the rest being removed in the demolition. I actually saw a picture of an old MillardAir plane at some other airport "graveyard" but I can't find the link at the moment. We've seen pics from the inside of the new hangar and it doesn't look like there is any old "junk" there. Just DM's new junk. I'm sure WM took care of all the stuff from CM.

Still 1/2 million dollars worth of junk listed for sale and the 1970's cars, planes have got to have come from CM.

 

[MsSherlock]

The guy killed one person, fired at least 6 more from their jobs over this...that does not sound like someone who was disinterested or lacked an opinion. That sounds like someone who was passionate and angry

Snooper, IMHO, DM was not passionate about anything except making sure he could continue his power trip: including but not limited to planes, cars,guns, drugs, sex and murder. IMO he didn't kill WM because he was passionate about the business or mad- IMO, he killed his father because, as he discovered with LB, it's a pretty good way of getting rid of a big nuisance. He's a psychopath. He knew he'd get flooded with sympathy. He knew he'd finally have access to all the Millard moola plus have a good reason (grief) to fire all the MRO guys that were complaining about him to WM. He sure got to show them who was boss. He had the money to close the distillery condo and was free of answering to WM and wouldn't have to worry one minute about closing down his chop shop/auto rebuilding biz. MOO

In one breath he's telling AS that the coffers are running dry and with the stroke of a pen he's buying a condo on spec? Doesn't sound like something a person does when they're worried about money. Perhaps he had premeditated WM's murder for a very long time.
So passionate and angy...IMO no. He killed his dad because he wanted the thrill of having power over his father and the benefits of having him dead were so great- plus he had to do it before WM got married again! MOO

 

[Kamille]

Well to us it is research, but DM was right there at the airport, he would hear the gossip.

He was right there at his hangar. The airport? Probably never went near it nor did he speak to anyone working at it. Why would he?

The guy killed one person, fired at least 6 more from their jobs over this...that does not sound like someone who was disinterested or lacked an opinion. That sounds like someone who was passionate and angry.

He essentially shut down an entire business that he had absolutely no interest in being a part of with one shot. Firing the staff was the easy part. He had an opinion all right. It just differed very much from what was being expected of him.

Well there were 2 hangars at Pearson, one leased to Air Transat, the other being the Millardair base of operations where CM still showed up for work until he died. No they weren't running an airline anymore but they were still running a business.

I'm interested to know what was going on at the Millard Air hangar after CM's death and for how long they continued to operate a business there. It was never an MRO. This excerpt from an article about CM indicates that they were selling airplanes and parts at the end of his life.

While the OC assigned to Millard Air has been retired, the business is still alive today selling aircraft and parts. At its peak in the 1970s, Millard operated 21 aircraft (and owned more on top of that) and employed some 25 staff (including pilots). There are still six aircraft owned by the firm today: three DC-4s – one in open storage at Brantford and two at Pearson – and three Piper Navajos, which are also kept at YYZ.

http://www.wingsmagazine.com/content/view/544/67/

The only things I've read about what was going on there after CM's death were that it was rented out for a movie shoot, DM used it for photo shoots, rave parties and working on his car hobby.


Still 1/2 million dollars worth of junk listed for sale and the 1970's cars, planes have got to have come from CM.

There has been no indication that either CM or WM were interested in cars or accumulated old cars as a hobby. WM apparently drove an old pick up and was very frugal and unassuming. And there are pictures of DM in the old classic cars as well as his friends purchasing old classic cars. Those were the types of cars they liked to rebuild. According to the article I posted above, in the last year of CM's life, they only had 6 aircraft left. Were any of the one's listed above in the recent sale of items? I believe DM had at least one helicopter and one small aircraft of his own (that may actually have been his father's) along with a stolen motorcycle and trailer, various jet ski's, cars, some of which also may have been stolen, an incinerator, a wood chipper, an engine hoist, various tools and cabinets and likely all of the equipment that either came from the old hangar or were purchased new for the MRO business.

MOO