Kelowna's KF Aerospace is 'Boeing Supplier of the Year'

Boeing -- the aircraft manufacturing giant with US$136 billion net worth -- loves Kelowna-based KF Aerospace.

At the recent 2023 Supplier of the Year gala in Boeing's home town of Seattle, KF Aerospace picked up the top-performer trophy in the 'safety and quality' category.

KF Aerospace maintains, manufactures and installs Boeing products for various customers and supported the Boeing 737 Max Entry to Service program for United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

KF Aerospace also supports the Boeing Converted Freighter program to turn Boeing 737-800 passenger jets into freight carriers.

All the conversion work is done at KF Aerospace's headquarters adjacent to Kelowna International Airport.

Boeing is also looking to partner with KF Aerospace on the P-8 Poseidon Team to provide in-service support for the P8-A military aircraft derived from the Boeing 737NG (next generation) commercial jet.

The plane would be used to upgrade Canada's military capabilities for search and rescue, humanitarian help, disaster relief response, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and intelligence and surveillance reconnaissance.

"We're honoured to receive this award from The Boeing Company -- a testament to our ever-growing relationship with one of the world's leading aerospace companies," said KF Aerospace president and CEO Tracy Medve.

"This relationship enables us to directly apply our 35-plus years of experience working on Boeing airframes while generating quality jobs and active activity in British Columbia and Canada."

KF Aerospace (formerly Kelowna Flightcraft) is the city's largest private-sector employer with more than 800 staff working out of its Kelowna facilities.

KF Aerospace is also Canada's largest commercial, repair and overhaul aviation company.

It counts Boeing, WestJet, Air Canada, Sunwing, Icelandair, Lynden Air Cargo, the Royal Canadian Air Force among its customers.

In all, nine 'supplier of the year' trophies were handed out.

The other categories are collaboration, outstanding performance, pathfinder, diversity, supply-chain visibility, sustainability and support-and-service.

"The Supplier of the Year winners are proactive, transparent and reliable in a challenging environment," said Boeing supply chain vice-president William Ampofo.

"Over the past year, their collaboration and commitment to safety and quality was the gold standard to help us drive stability in our supply chain and consistently deliver for our customers."