EXECUTIVE WA Jake Tomlin


SERVING FOR LIFE


CEO and President of Papillon Helicopters


By Rick Weatherford W


ay back in 1965, a mop-top band from Liverpool was singing their new #1 hit, “Ticket to Ride,” to


fans on both sides of the pond. That same magical year, a man far less famous than John, Paul, George and Ringo—Elling Halvorson—began selling tickets to ride on his Grand Canyon helicopter tours. Those hot tickets have been snatched up by so many fans over the decades, that the tour operator that Halvorson founded, Papillon Helicopters, has become the #1 helicopter tour operator, not only on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, but over the entire world.


Papillon Helicopters’ fleet of 44 helicopters, 16 airplanes, and hundreds of employees safely fly approx. 300,000 fans per year to experience the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and of course, Papillon’s “lit” hometown of Las Vegas.


14 Mar/Apr 2026 U.S. Marine


“Papillon” is French for “butterfly,” but the man leading it is no lightweight. Curiously, CEO and President Jake Tomlin, began his career in 2013 at Papillon not knowing how huge his new employer was in the helicopter world. He mainly knew of the company as a small respected tour and utility company. Indeed, Papillon has its roots in Grand Canyon pipeline construction and approx. 10% of its mission are utility related. The remaining 90% are tours.


There’s a good reason for Tomlin’s initial ignorance. Before he signed on with Papillon, he was committed to his previous aviation organization—the U.S. Marines as an F/A-18 jet pilot. He served in that military branch (once a Marine, always a Marine) since graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 2002.


That graduation year placed him to eventually fly his jet in some regions that were definitely not for tourists. “I’d cruise along at 10,000 feet over Iraq, on an ISR mission with no intent to engage kinetically, and the rotary-wing pilots battling below me would land at base with bullet holes in their tail rotors. I’d think, God bless these guys; it’s all about supporting them and the ground effort!”


Yet, Tomlin says he was also blessed. “In regards to deploying and operating, there’s no other group I’d rather work with than the Marines. I’m so passionate about my military service that I really have to hold back when talking to young people because I don’t want to talk them into serving. It’s best if it’s a personal calling.”


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