RICK KENIN: TAKING VAI TO NEW HEIGHTS
R
ICK KENIN’S CAREER COULD FUEL several fast-paced TV shows. It has all the right elements—lifesaving rescues, tense drug inter- dictions, and a touch of international diplomacy.
The 30-year veteran of the US Coast Guard (USCG) even has an ironic vulnerability: seasickness. During those 30 years, the new chairman of the VAI Board
of Directors traveled the globe, from the Bering Sea to the Caribbean islands and South America, with assignments as diverse as shipboard patrols and the US Senate, and duties ranging from flying USCG jets and rotorcraft to understand- ing the fine points of Haitian politics. Today, he serves as COO of transport for Boston
MedFlight, a nonprofit, Bedford, Massachusetts–based air ambulance organization. Beginning on Jul. 1, 2025, Rick will bring the strategic perspective gained during this action-packed career to his new, yearlong leadership role at VAI.
Thrilling Adventures Rick wanted to attend the US Coast Guard Academy from a very young age. While earning an engineering degree there, he eyed a career flying rotorcraft. “A couple of months into naval flight training, the Coast
Guard said, ‘We don’t need you in helicopters. We need you in jets.’ I was crushed. Turns out, it’s probably the best thing that ever happened to me, because being a jet pilot in the Coast Guard was rewarding, very fast paced, and honed my airmanship skills. Later in my career, I had the opportunity to transition to helicopters, so it all worked out in the end,” says Rick. He holds an airline transport pilot license for fixed-wing
aircraft with multi-engine and jet type ratings, a commercial rotorcraft license with instrument rating, and a single-engine land certificate. He’s also an avid general aviation pilot with a total of 6,000 personal and professional flight hours. For the first 10 years of his career, Rick flew the HU-25
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POWER UP JUN 2025
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