Sky is not the limit for first Sikh airline owner

Ludhiana-born Surjit Babra doesn't hold any MBA or business degree, but he went on become the world's first Sikh to start an airline in 1988.
Gifted with extraordinary business acumen, Toronto-based Babra, 65, has turned SkyLink Group into a multi-million-dollar conglomerate of SkyLink Aviation, SkyLink Travel, SkyLink Express, SkyLink Holidays and Dollar Rent -A-Car, with each unit servicing a particular segment of travel, tourism, aviation and cargo transport.
Born in Ludhiana, Babra left the city for Kenya when was just two. “Our family was moving in and out of Ludhiana quite often.'' From Kenya, he moved to London as a student. “I got parttime work as a helper in a travel office and then a full-time job.That's how I got a break into this profession. Then I started a retail travel agency called SkyLink solely to promote India.'' As he learnt the tricks of travel trade, young Babra saw a big opportunity for himself as a general sales representative in the huge North America market.
“So I left London and landed in Toronto in 1979 to set up my small travel office in Canada. By that time I had developed a great passion for business and we set about establishing our offices in New York, LA, Chicago, Vancouver and Montreal,'' he says.
A chance meeting with Israeli immigrant Walter Arbib, a former travel agent, led to the two jointly floating SkyLink airline in 1988.
“It was the burning passion of two Canadian immigrants (me and Walter) to succeed that drove our business to new heights. Every year we reached new milestones.By the time 911 happened, we had become a very visible and respected brand. That's why we survived when many airlines sank.'' Soon, SkyLink became globally known as the UN, the Red Cross, and US and Canadian government agencies hired it to fly relief supplies or personnel to troubled spots of the world. Lauding the humanitarian missions of SkyLink, Ontario included the SkyLink profile in its school textbooks.
However, he describes the airlifting of new 149 birs (copies) of the Sikh holy Guru Granth from Amritsar to Canada by his airline as “the most satisfying event'' of hislife. “The local Sacha Sauda came to me for bringing the holy books from India. Since the Guru Granth Sahib is a living guru for us, SkyLink made arrangements that each bir was seated on an individual seat.'' In 2008, Babra and his partner started strategically exiting from their multi-million-dollar aviation business empire by selling its various segments to pour money into his newly created investment company SkyLink Capital.
However, as this father of three was about to retire in 2014, a new opportunity presented itself.
“The American food processing giant Heinz was closing its plant at Leamington in Ontario.We four partners formed as investor group called Highbury Canco Corp and bought this plant saved 250 jobs,'' says Babra who was honoured with the Business Person of the Year award in 1996 by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce.
And Babra links the success of the Punjabi diaspora to the `everything is do-able' mantra.“The last Sikh Guru meant the same thing when he said `sava lakh se ek ladaun' (one Sikh taking on 1.25 lakh). This, coupled with the Sikh jaikara or war cry, is the secret of the global Punjabi success story .''
Secret of success
Babra narrates how during a leadership programme in Las Vegas, the participants were made to walk over burning coals. “This exercise was meant to prove that mind can conquer anything. One should have a continuous desire for self improvement and burning passion to succeed.''