TORONTO — The new interim President of Vitran Corp., Bill Deluce, has a surname long associated with Canadian transportation, but it has more to do with air than with airbrakes.

Deluce is one of nine children belonging to the late Chapleau,-ON-born aviation pioneer Stanley Matthew Deluce. Deluce’s brother Robert is the founder and CEO of Porter Airlines.

According to Deluce Sr.’s entry in the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame, Stanley Matthew Deluce “made a significant contribution to the development of the regional airline concept in Canada.

“From meagre beginnings when he and his family started White River Air Services in the 1950’s with a Stinson aircraft, he supplied safe and secure transportation links to the remote communities of Northern Ontario and Quebec in some of the most hostile flying environments which surround Hudson’s Bay.

“He built his commercial aviation business into a transportation system which culminated in airlines such as Austin Airways, Air Creebec, Air Ontario and Air Alliance, operations which rank with the best in the world. All members of his family, including his wife and their nine children, are or have been involved in his company, as pilots or in administration.”

Son William graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Chemical Engineering. In addition to being on the Vitran Board since 2004, he is president of Wicklow Consulting.

Over the years, Deluce has founded, and managed numerous air service companies in North America and Africa. These include Austin Airways, Air Ontario and Air Alliance in Canada, as well as Global Airlift in Kenya and South African Express. Deluce also sits on the boards of several corporations and philanthropic organizations.

Deluce was named interim CEO at Vitran this week after the Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Rick Gaetz, who has been with the company since 1989, as CEO since 2002.

Deluce has been a memeber of Vitran’s board of directors since 2004, and “will work closely” with the company’s management team to oversee ongoing operations and efforts to improve its financial results, the statement said.