1977 April 12 Nick Chenoweth and Vic Walters sign papers starting Clearwater Flying Service (CFS) in Orofino, ID. May 1 Mel Spelde joins full-time as flight instructor and manager. | 1979 Business includes fire patrol, transporting outfitters into the backcountry, air ambulance, air pollution monitoring, charters and flight instruction. | 1980 Nov 1 Empire purchases West Aire, Inc. at COE and expands business to include aircraft sales and maintenance. | 1981 Empire pruchases Executive Aviation in Missoula, MT and leases Twin Otters for US Forest Service smoke jumping contracts. | 1983 Dec 31 Pilots Al Hall and Dan Paulson arrive in the Caribbean for the Department of Defense Grenada contract chauffering military personnel and supplies. | 1984 Jan 3 Empire begins commuter service to Boise. | 1986 Jan 25 Empire adds Metro service to meet passenger demand and adds Lewiston to the COE-BOI route. |