BARRY LAPOINTE: In love with Aviation
BY DARCY NYBO
T
he B.C. Aviation Council (BCAC) recently honoured Kelowna Flightcraft’s
founder Barry Lapointe with a lifetime achievement award. It was the latest in a long line of well-deserved awards Lapointe has received over the years.
Lapointe is well known for his ability to wear many hats in the aviation industry. He trained as a pilot and an aircraft mechanic and merged these skills with his entrepreneurial spirit to form Kelowna Flightcraft in 1970 with long time friend Jim Rogers. Their friendship goes back to the 1960s when they worked together in Vancouver.
“This kind of work gets in your blood,” says Rogers, “Aviation is a part of Barry’s life. He loves to fly, loves to fix airplanes and all other aspects of the flight industry.” In their 30 years as business partners, Rogers knew that if Barry came up with an idea, the two of them could make it happen.
“We were lucky we were dealing with the aviation industry at a time when bankers went by personality – not just the balance sheet. Barry is a good manager and is certainly a good maintenance engineer. He understands all of it from the cockpit to the boardroom and everything in between,” added Rogers.
Lapointe is also known for his quick thinking and generosity. In 1976 Kelowna Flightcraft donated a DC-3 to take the B.C. Lacrosse team from Vernon to Winnipeg for the national championships. The team won. Lapointe piloted the trip and on the return flight, a fire developed. He put the aircraft down in a field just in time to get everyone out safely before the plane blew up.
Lapointe’s achievements are impressive, to say the least. He has over 15,000 flying hours and holds a Transport Canada Airline Transport Pilot license together with Transport Canada Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) license. He was awarded an Honourary Doctorate degree from the BCIT, named Entrepreneur of the Year Pacific Region in 1998, received the Aerospace Training Innovator award from Aerospace Industry Association of British Columbia (AIABC) in 2002, and was awarded the Pacific Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Association (PAMEA) Engineer of the year award in 2005. He was inducted into the AME Hall of Fame in the same year.
YLW Airport Director, Sam Samaddar, knows the aviation industry in Kelowna wouldn’t be the same without Lapointe. “He has made a great contribution to the Kelowna International Airport in that the company he established in 1970 is now an extremely diverse company
Barry Lapointe with the Lifetime Achievement Award
that allows any airline requiring service a location for one stop shopping.” Samaddar attributes part of YLW’s success to what Lapointe has done in aircraft maintenance and the airline business.
“We are all extremely proud of his achievements,” adds Samaddar. “He certainly has tremendous interest in the aviation industry. We look forward to many more years of exciting business opportunities with him.”
If anyone ever doubts that Barry Lapointe truly loves what he does, all they need to do is watch one of his “I am a Man of Many Hats” performances. He ends every one with his catch phrase: “God, I love aviation!”
WINTER 2012 | 21
Jim Jorgenson
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