KF employs close to 1,000 experienced staff who fly, maintain, modify, engineer and paint its aircraft.

A one-stop shop that services the aviation industry worldwide, the Kelowna Flightcraft (KF) Group of Companies is set apart by its personnel. The Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada-based firm believes its employees are the best in the industry and it would give up anything for them – even growth. While its competition has mostly growth in mind, KF puts its people first.

“Our employees are our greatest asset,” notes Bob Monaghan, director of strategic development. He adds that the company does not react “excessively” to the market’s constant changes. “We want our employees to work for us and stay for their careers,” Monaghan continues. “We don’t overreact whether there is an upturn or downturn. We temper our growth to ensure [our] sustainability.”

KF does not believe in laying people off to adapt to market challenges, Monaghan says. “We’d rather not grow if growth means putting our peoples’ jobs at risk in the future,” he stresses.

KF employs close to 1,000 experienced staff who fly, maintain, modify, engineer and paint the aircraft. Monaghan praises his employees’ commitment to the company’s success. “They take an active ownership role in our customers’ successes,” he explains. “A lot of it comes from the fact that we don’t have a rigid reporting system. We encourage our customer representatives to speak with employees directly and get suggestions from the people who do the work. [Our employees] know that the work they do not only reflects the company but it reflects them personally.”

Added Advantage
KF has been an aircraft maintenance organization (AMO) for more than 30 years, and it operates two full-service maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Canada: Kelowna, B.C., and Hamilton, Ontario. The company owns $30 million (Canadian) of inventory, which allows it to react to customers’ needs right away, Monaghan says.

“Our inventory is an added advantage,” he states. “Our president and owner, Barry Lapointe, has always taken an attitude that whatever customers ask of us, we can do. While, at the same time, we never take on anything that we know we can’t meet or exceed.”

Some of its high-profile clients include Purolator Courier Ltd., the largest air cargo carrier in Canada, as well as the Department of National Defense (DND) and Canadian Forces. KF has a 22-year, $1.8 billion contract with DND to provide it with training for primary flight, heavy fixed-wing transports and helicopters. In addition, KF also services Canada’s Conair Aerospace and UPS Canada.

Always Improving
Labor is a huge issue in most companies in Canada. KF, however, has long been prepared for the challenge. “We recognized this coming 10 years ago,” Monaghan says. “So, we got involved with the British Columbia Institute of Technology, which provides training for AMOs. It allows us to attract local students into the industry. It gives us a huge advantage over our competition, because most of them were just awakened to the fact that labor is a problem two years ago.”

Five years ago, KF expanded into servicing companies in South America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. “Our expertise is starting to be well-known worldwide,” Monaghan states. Diversification helps with market challenges, he adds. “For instance, to address customer stated needs, we have opened up a JT8D engine shop and will open a narrow body landing gear shop in June 2008,” he continues.

Although the aviation market is at its peak, Monaghan says, KF is far from complacent. “We know that a downturn will come at some point,” he states. “It’s a very cyclical industry. We’re focusing on internal procedures to make sure we’re as efficient as possible so when a downturn comes, we can still provide our customers the same high-quality services.”

He adds that his vision for the company is simple: “To provide our employees a stable, generally growing company to work for.” To achieve this, he says, KF will continue to focus on diversifying its services.