![]() | |
Industry | Aerospace |
---|---|
Founded | Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada(1970) |
Products | Aircraft |
Number of employees | 1000 |
Subsidiaries | KF Cargo |
Website | KF Aerospace |
KF Aerospace is an approved maintenance organization (AMO) which operates two maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in Canada, one at Kelowna International Airport in British Columbia and the other at Hamilton International Airport in Ontario. It is the parent company of KF Cargo, which provides cargo aircraft charter and leasing services, and KF Defence Programs, contract operator of the Canadian Forces Contracted Flying Training and Support program. [1] KF Aerospace is Kelowna's largest private employer. [2]
The company was established as Kelowna Flightcraft on March 20, 1970 and the charter subsidiary Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter was established and started operating in June 1974. It is wholly owned by Barry Lapointe Holding.
In 1996, Kelowna Flightcraft was operating Boeing 727-200 jets in scheduled passenger airline service using its own "KF" airline code on a contract basis for Greyhound Air, a Canadian-based new startup air carrier. [3]
Flightcraft's extensive history in maintenance work directed to the ubiquitous Boeing 727 "feederliner" series has led to their adaptation as the main type for cargo operations, with Purolator Courier their main client. It was announced on February 19, 2014 that Flightcraft lost their contract with Purolator Courier as another carrier, Cargojet, won the contract. [4]
On March 30, 2005, KF Aerospace was awarded a $1.77 billion contract to lead a team of Canadian companies called KF Defence Programs to provide primary flight training for the Canadian Forces Air Command at Southport at the former CFB Base Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
KF Aerospace also undertakes maintenance and upgrades on the Convair CV-240 family, for which it owns the type certificate. KF Aerospace converts existing Convair CV-580s to the updated CV5800 configuration and provides conversions of the former Canadian Forces CC-109 Cosmopolitan transport fleet into freighters and "fire-fighting" water/chemical bombers. [5]
In September 2020 the organization announced plans to build a $25 million aerospace museum, hangar and conference center in Kelowna. [6] The 50,000 sqft facility was designed by Meiklejohn Architects and built by Sawchuk Developments Co. Completed and opened in 2022, it is shaped like a plane and features a mass timber and steel design. [7] [8] The two hangars house legacy aircraft such as a World War II Mosquito fighter-bomber and a Hawker Tempest MKII. [9]
KF Aerospace announced a partnership with Boeing to open two conversion lines for 737-800BCF at its Kelowna facility in 2023. The company adds two hangars at that facility. [10]
KF works with WestJet, WestJet Encore, Swoop, Sunwing, and Air Transat. [11]
KF offers leasing of the following aircraft types:
KF offers maintenance for the following aircraft types: [13]
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating but with two underwing turbofans instead of four. Envisioned in 1964, the initial 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered service in February 1968 with Lufthansa. The lengthened 737-200 entered service in April 1968, and evolved through four generations, offering several variants for 85 to 215 passengers.
Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as Air North, Yukon's Airline, is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights throughout Yukon, as well as between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The airline also operates charter flights throughout Canada and Alaska. The airline also provides ground handling services and fuel services to other airlines throughout Yukon, and it also provides ground handling services at Vancouver International Airport and Edmonton International Airport. Its main base is Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.
Bradley Air Services Limited, operating as First Air, was an airline headquartered in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operated services to 34 communities in Nunavut, Nunavik, and the Northwest Territories. First Air has assisted in various humanitarian missions such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, airlifting relief supplies and equipment. Its main base, which included a large hangar, cargo and maintenance facility, was located at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport, with hubs at Iqaluit Airport, and Yellowknife Airport. On November 1, 2019, the airline consolidated operations with Canadian North.
Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Thunder Bay Airport is an airport in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. With 108,130 aircraft movements in 2012, it was the fourth busiest airport in Ontario and the 16th busiest airport in Canada. During the same year, more than 761,000 passengers went through the airport.
Les Investissements Nolinor Inc., trading as Nolinor Aviation, is a charter airline based in Mirabel, a suburb of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It operates passenger charter and cargo services within Canada and to the United States Its main base is Montréal–Mirabel International Airport. It has 200 employees.
PAL Airlines is a Canadian regional airline with headquarters at St. John's International Airport in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. PAL operates scheduled passenger, cargo, air ambulance and charter services. PAL is the commercial airline arm of the PAL Group of Companies. In addition to its head office, it also has bases in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Montreal, Quebec. PAL is the second largest regional airline operator in Eastern Canada next to Jazz Aviation.
Kelowna International Airport is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or 6.2 nautical miles northeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Highway 97.
Casper–Natrona County International Airport is 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Casper, in Natrona County, Wyoming. Before December 19, 2007 the airport was called Natrona County International Airport.
AllCanada Express was a cargo airline based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It operated nightly flights to some of the major United States cargo hubs and to Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter trading as KF Cargo and Kelowna Flightcraft trading as KF Maintenance and Engineering is a cargo airline based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It operates long term cargo charters for couriers and freight companies, forest fire patrols, and aircraft sales and leasing in Canada and worldwide. It also provides maintenance and aircraft manufacturing services.
Quebecair was a Canadian airline that operated from 1947 until 1986. Quebecair was headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, now a part of Montreal.
Turkish Technic, is the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center of Turkish Airlines. Third party airlines are also served. Turkish Technic is headquartered at Atatürk Airport (ISL) and owns a maintenance hangar at Istanbul Airport (IST) on the European side of Istanbul. However, a new complex built at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) on the Asian (Anatolia) side of Istanbul, formerly named Turkish HABOM, is poised to become the main center of operations.
Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), also called Blatchford Field as well as Edmonton Municipal Airport, was an airport within the city of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada.
Winnport was the first Canadian all-cargo airline to operate scheduled service between Canada and the People's Republic of China. Franklin "Lynn" Bishop was the president of Winnport.
SkyLink Express is a cargo airline headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It operates dedicated air cargo / courier feeder flights throughout Canada and the United States and provides on demand air cargo charters from its bases in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Montréal-Mirabel.
Northwest Airlines was a major United States airline which existed from 1926 until 2010, when it merged with Delta Air Lines and became part of Delta Air Lines fleet. At the time of the merger it had a total of 309 aircraft. It was also the last U.S. airline to have a dedicated cargo fleet and routes.
The Alaska Airlines fleet are all Boeing 737 series aircraft, operated directly by Alaska Airlines. A regional fleet of Alaska branded Embraer 175 jets are operated, by the Alaska Air Group owned regional airlines, Horizon Air and contractor SkyWest Airlines.
Intrastate airlines in the U.S. are defined as air carriers operating inside of one individual state and thus not flying across state lines. Larger intrastate airlines in the U.S. that operated mainline turboprop and/or jet aircraft were created as a result of former federal airline regulations, as passenger air carriers that only flew intrastate service were not regulated by the federal government but were instead primarily regulated by the respective state governments in their home states. For example, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and Air California were both regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) prior to the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Although intrastate airlines in some states used only turboprop aircraft, scheduled passenger service on jet aircraft was operated by intrastate air carriers in California, Florida, Hawaii and Texas.
Chrono Aviation Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary Chrono Jet Inc., is a charter airline headquartered at Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport. It operates aircraft in passenger, cargo and combi roles. It has bases at Montreal Saint-Hubert Longueuil Airport, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport and Rimouski Aerodrome. It has over 265 employees.