Thor Einarson and his family have endured all sorts of economic ups and downs since Einarson Flying Service was founded at Falls International Airport in International Falls, Minn., more than half a century ago. Although this recession is proving to be enormously challenging, for an airport that far north winter weather is a constant–and more pressing–battle. During this past winter, for example, for three days in a row the outside air temperature hovered at -41 degrees F. “We had an unusual winter,” said Einarson, the third-generation owner-operator of the FBO. “Record cold, record snow, record rain. We’re the icebox of the nation.” However, that weather has its advantages.
Two Einarson brothers, Francis (Thor’s father) and James, started the FBO in 1948. Francis took his first airplane ride in 1939, then joined the U.S. Army in World War II. After the war, Francis learned to fly and then bought the FBO at Falls International Airport. Thor, now 47, was 11 years old when he tried his hand at the controls, bolstered by padding made of wood blocks and boat cushions that his father fashioned so the young boy could reach the controls of one of the FBO’s Cessna 150s. Thor and later his wife and FBO co-owner Karina stayed with the FBO and also took over as managers of the airport, while his brother worked his way up the airline ladder, eventually flying as a captain for Mesaba Airlines.
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