Aviation company’s business lifts off, sparks hiring spree
KF Aerospace is now Kelowna’s largest private-sector employer
When Kelowna Flightcraft completes its latest hiring spree, it will have a record-high number of workers at its hangars at Kelowna airport. “We hired the entire Christmas graduating class of 12 students from Okanagan College aircraft structure technicians course and we’ll do the same again this year,” said human resources director Grant Stevens.
“We’ve basically hired every technician we can in B.C., so now we’re scouring the rest of Canada and convincing technicians to move to Kelowna and work here. It’s challenging, but it’s a nice problem to have because it means were growing and busy.”
Kelowna Flightcraft, which now goes by KF Aerospace, currently has 575 staff at its Kelowna facilities and head office doing everything from aircraft retrofits and maintenance to flying cargo, leasing planes and crews and administration.
By the end of the summer, KF hopes to have bolstered its local workforce to 650, an increase of 75 or 13 per cent.
“That will definitely be a new peak for us in Kelowna,” said Stevens.
“We have about 1,000 employees all across Canada, but Kelowna is our home base, so we have most of the activity and workers here.”
KF needs all the new staff in Kelowna because it has just signed a deal with Aeronautical Engineers of Miami.
The firm converts used passenger jets into cargo planes by refurbishing them and adding the all-important cargo doors.
Aeronautical has become so busy doing the overhauls in Miami that it starting looking for a partner to share in the work.
KF was chosen as an Aeronautical authorized conversion centre and can now bid on contracts.
The first business KF has landed under the pact is with Vx Capital to convert 19 Boeing 737 passenger jets into cargo carriers over the next three years.
We h ired the entire Christmas graduating class of 12 students from Okanagan College aircraft structure technicians course and we’ll do the same again this year. KF Aerospace human resources director Grant Stevens
San Francisco-based Vx is an aircraft leasing company that buys older passenger planes, has them remodelled and then rents them out to cargo carriers.
KF expects more such contracts as its alliance with Aeronautical continues to bear additional fruit. KF is Kelowna’s largest private-sector employer. It’s a diversified aviation business that does cargo charters, leases planes and provides flight training and support for the Canadian Forces.
It overhauls and maintains aircraft for a variety of passenger airlines, cargo carriers, forestry flyers, government and military clients.
One of its biggest jobs lately has been putting new seats in all 100 of WestJet’s planes and adding winglets for fuel efficiency.