How Barry Lapointe built KF Aerospace

According to Don Bell, the co-founder of WestJet, “It’s pretty easy to lose money in aviation but Barry came up with a magic formula.” Barry Lapointe loved airplanes, going back to his earliest memories in life – just loved them.

He earned his pilot’s license before he got his driver’s license. He then became a flight instructor and then an airplane mechanic. “I figured if I could teach people to fly, then they’d want an airplane, which I’d sell to them, and then I’d look after it for them,” says Lapointe.

Sounds simple. Well, sure, if you’re willing to take the risk of opening a flying operation in the Okanagan in the early 1970s. To do so, you have to be willing to take risks. According to Barry, “You spell entrepreneur, ‘RISK’.” And that willingness to take risks led to a middle-of-the-night phone call that changed his life and the future of his business.