Get a behind-the-scenes look and find out about aviation’s hottest jobs at KF Aerospace’s career fair and open house on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
KF Aerospace (former Kelowna Flightcraft) is the largest private sector employer in the city with 800 staff working at the 400,000-square-foot facility adjacent to Kelowna International Airport.
KF Aerospace’s headquarter offices are at 5644 Airport Way and aircraft maintenance and retrofitting is done in huge hangars surrounding it.
On Sept. 24, from 3 to 6:30 pm, guided tours will be offered through most of the working areas, there will be information booths and a chance to meet KF staff who work in aerospace engineering, information technology, skilled trades, customer service and administration.
“If you are curious about KF Aerospace, this is an excellent opportunity to peek inside our operations, meet our people and connect with our recruitment team,” said human resources director Anne Downie.
Job seekers can find out about entry-level opportunities like aircraft painting, hangar support and materials coordination.
KF Aerospace offers on-the-job training with career progression.
Okanagan College will also be available to introduce prospective students to its aircraft maintenance programs, including mechanical and structures training.
The career fair and open house coincides with KF Aerospace’s 55th anniversary.
The company started small in 1970 under pilot Barry Lapointe, who flew around the Interior fixing small planes.
Lapointe got his big break shortly after when he helped Purolator Courier in a pinch to fly packages from Vancouver to Toronto.
To this day, KF Aerospace still works with Purolator as its exclusive air partner for the BC feeder network, flying packages between Kelowna, Vancouver, Kamloops, Victoria, Nanaimo and Prince George.
KF Aerospace is also a big player internationally, doing maintenance and retrofitting at its Kelowna facilities for the likes of WestJet, Air Canada, United Airlines, Icelandair, Alaska Airlines, Air North and Sunwing and government and military customers.
KF Aerospace is also a 50/50 partner with Canadian Aviation Electronics in SkyAlyne, a consortium that has multi-billion-dollar contracts to do Royal Canadian Air Force pilot and crew training and aircraft maintenance over the next 25 years.
