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The company was established as Kelowna Flightcraft on March 20, 1970 in the Okanagan Valley by owner Barry Lapointe, and the charter subsidiary Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter was established and started operating in June 1974.
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.
KF'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.
KF Aerospace currently delivers cargo for Purolator within British Columbia, Canada, as part of the British Columbia Feeder Network (BCFN) using a fleet of Convair 580 aircraft. KF provides Type-A dispatch services for Canadian operators.
On March 30, 2005, KF Aerospace was awarded a $1.77 billion contract to lead a team of Canadian companies called Allied Wings to provide primary flight training for the Royal Canadian Air Force at Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. - the former CFB Base in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Since 2005, KF Aerospace and its Allied Wings partners have provided basic and advanced flying training (multi-engine and rotary-wing) for RCAF pilots and aircrew. Training includes live flying on the Grob-G120A, King Air C-90B, Bell B206B Jet Ranger and Bell B412 CF Outlaw. Allied Wings also provides classroom and simulator instruction alongside RCAF uniformed instructors, and manages all facilities, grounds and operations for the program.
KF Aerospace undertakes maintenance and upgrades on the Convair CV-240 family, for which it owns the type certificate. KF Aerospace has converted existing Convair CV-580s to the updated CV5800 configuration and had provided conversions of the former Canadian Forces CC-109 Cosmopolitan transport fleet into freighters and "fire-fighting" water/chemical bombers.
In February 2019, KF announced plans for a $30 million expansion of its MRO facility in Hamilton, Ontario, including a new 75,000 sq. foot hangar that introduced wide-body aircraft capability and additional lines of maintenance to KF’s Hamilton operation. The expansion was completed in November 2019.
In September 2020, KF Aerospace founder Barry Lapointe announced plans to build an aerospace museum, hangar and conference center in Kelowna. The KF Centre for Excellence is a 50,000 sqft facility 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. The two hangars house legacy aircraft such as a World War II Mosquito fighter-bomber and a Hawker Tempest MKII.
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KF launched the passenger charter airline Aeroflyer in 2022, operating with a fleet of Boeing 737NG aircraft.
In 2022, KF Aerospace partnered with the City of Kelowna, Kelowna International Airport (YLW), and the YMCA to build the Kelowna Airport YMCA Child Care Centre. The child care centre opened in 2023, offering spaces for 86 children under age six. In 2024, an expansion for the child care centre was announced. The expansion is expected to open in late 2025.
KF Aerospace announced a partnership with Boeing to open two conversion lines for 737-800BCF at its Kelowna facility in 2023.
From Wikipedia’s article on KF Aerospace, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4