Barry Paul Lapointe

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 10, 1944, to parents Paul and Lucille, Barry Paul Lapointe was the younger brother of his only sibling, Henry. Barry has been a passionate aviation enthusiast all his life and has pursued it since graduating from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in the Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering program in 1966. During his studies at BCIT, he demonstrated leadership capabilities by serving as class president.

Prior to graduation, he had earned his Private Pilot Licence, and at age 21 in 1965 he earned his Commercial Pilot Licence. Barry’s first maintenance position after graduating from BCIT was with Harrison Airways in Vancouver. By 1968 he was the Chief Engineer for Air West Airlines, which later became Air BC. In 1969, Barry left Air West for the Okanagan Valley and worked for a short time with Morris Aviation Ltd. in Vernon, British Columbia.

On March 25, 1970, in Kelowna, British Columbia, he founded Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd., known today as KF Aerospace. The company had a small beginning. Working from his truck, Barry serviced clients by providing maintenance for light aircraft. In 1971, Barry’s close friend, Jim Rogers from Calgary, joined KF Aerospace; business grew rapidly and Jim stayed with KF until leaving in the late 1990s to start his own aviation company. In 1974, Barry established Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter (KFAC) to provide charter service for courier and freight companies.

In 1976, Barry received a call to do a last-minute cargo run for Purolator Courier. He took off at night in his twin-engine Grand Commander (C-GKFF) to deliver 800 pounds of freight to the east coast. That flight proved to be the beginning of a venture that would see Kelowna Flightcraft operating nearly 20 aircraft delivering a million pounds of cargo daily to 12 bases across Canada for Purolator Courier and Canada Post from 1976 until 2015.

In 1995, KF Aerospace expanded into Hamilton, Ontario opening a new five million dollar, 50,000 square foot hangar to maintain the growing KF fleet supporting Purolator and Canada Post.

In 2001, KF purchased the Convair Type Certificate, thereby ensuring ongoing support for the worldwide fleet of Convair twin engine aircraft.  KF also engineered and produced a stretched version of the Convair 580, which was given a 14-foot extension of the fuselage and named the Convair 5800. Six such aircraft were built in the Kelowna facility and are deployed in commercial service. KFAC continues to operate the Convair 580s and Convair 5800s for Purolator's night service within British Columbia. Additionally, KF entered into a joint venture with Convair to design and build a tanker version of the Convair 580 which continues in regular firefighting service within Canada and the United States.

Under Barry’s leadership, as a Department of National Defence (DND) recognized Design Approval Organization, KF Engineering has become a world-renowned aerospace enterprise, having designed hundreds of Supplemental Type Certificates and repair approvals. Other maintenance programs include ongoing support of the DND fixed wing search and rescue program using Buffalo and Twin Otter aircraft.  KF has had the contract since 2009 to conduct maintenance checks and incorporate modifications to ensure that the fleet remains reliable for its important life-saving duties. KF Aerospace will maintain these aging aircraft until the end of their service life in 2020 and 2021.

In 2005 the company was the lead in a consortium that successfully won the bid to supply fixed wing and helicopter training for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Nearly 80% of the pilots who earn their wings each year pass through the doors of the KF Aerospace training facility in Southport, Manitoba.

Barry Lapointe’s interests have gone well beyond building his company. In 1986 he was part of the Odyssey 86 team of 11 people who flew a 1944 Douglas Dakota DC-3 around the world to celebrate both the 50th  anniversary of the DC-3 and the World’s Fair on Transportation and Communication being held in Vancouver. The aircraft visited 55 cities in 28 countries, accumulating over 280 hours of trouble-free flying over a two-month period. He is currently involved with a complete restoration to flying condition of a Second World War 1941 Hawker Tempest Mk 2  fighter aircraft, of which there are only eight left in the world, none currently flying.

Barry Lapointe has developed KF Aerospace from a one-man venture into an organization which today employs over 1,000 people with a payroll in excess of $70 million annually. He has also given back over $32.2 million to employees through his “Barry Bucks” incentive program. He has been a strong supporter of the aviation and aerospace industry, a member of the Air Transport Association of Canada since 1987, serving on the Board of Directors from 1991 to 2013, and on the Executive Committee of the Board for 10 years.

In 1999 Barry coordinated a program for Grade 11 and 12 students to experience a prospective career in aviation. “Responding to shortages in aircraft maintenance technicians, Barry led Kelowna Flightcraft’s efforts to welcome British Columbia Institute of Technology students to KF Aerospace for onsite education and training,”  says Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and principal of the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia. “In conjunction with BCIT, KF received Transport Canada’s approval for the Aircraft Structural Repair Technician’s Course, reported as the first privately owned company in British Columbia to do so. The popular program continues to be operated today by Okanagan College, with KF often offering jobs to the entire class even prior to graduation.”

In 2015 Barry donated $500,000 to Okanagan College as part of a $33 million expansion and renovation of the trades training facility on the Kelowna campus. As well, Barry’s company has donated Boeing 727-200 aircraft to University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, to Fanshawe College’s School of Aviation Technology in Ontario and to Canadore College in Ontario to facilitate learning in their Structures AME programs.

Barry Lapointe’s community involvement is extensive. He served as a Director on the board of St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver for three years. He was the major donor to the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus for the building of a Fitness and Wellness Centre that opened in 2013.  His $3.5 million gift helped fund most of the $4.1 million cost of the facility. From 2005 to 2011, Barry served as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of British Columbia.

In 2000 he received The Pacific Coast Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2003 he established the KF Charitable Foundation. Since its inception, the Foundation has donated to a variety of community charities and causes across Canada including the United Way, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Kids’ Cancer Care Foundation at Kelowna General Hospital and to Girls Fly Too, an organization to support women in aviation. Barry was also on the Board of Directors of Partnerships BC, responsible for public/private partnerships to develop BC infrastructure for education, transportation, health and recreation.

The recipient of more than a dozen awards, Barry Lapointe received an Honorary Doctor of Technology from his alma mater, the BCIT in 1999. He was recognized as an Honorary Life Member by the Air Transport Association of Canada in 2000 and made a member of Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Association Hall of Fame, Pacific Region, in 2005. In 2013 he received the British Columbia Aviation Council Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2015 was invested as a Member of the Order of British Columbia.

Since earning his first licence as a pilot, Barry has logged over 17,000 hours, and in 2016 added a private helicopter licence to his credentials. After founding his company 49 years ago, he continues actively as CEO and Chairman of KF Aerospace.

A father of four children – Todd, Lindsay, Tracey and Spencer – and grandfather of two girls, Barry Paul Lapointe and his partner, Sandy Dawson, live in Kelowna, British Columbia.