 
Aviation Aficionado and Radio Host Shane Hewitt Keynote Speaker for BCAC's Innovation Conference
We're very pleased to announce that Shane Hewitt will be our Signature Dinner Keynote Speaker at the Sun Peaks Resort during our Innovation Conference. A life-long aviation aficionado, Shane is flying in from Ottawa specifically for the conference – which he'll be remote broadcasting live – then winging it back home again on the 5am flight, courtesy of Air Canada. Shane loves us!
All things Shane... Shane Hewitt is a seasoned Canadian broadcaster, speaker, and host of Shane Hewitt & The Nightshift, a nationally syndicated radio show on the iHeart Radio Talk Network. With a career built on deep conversations and sharp storytelling, Shane brings a fresh lens to leadership, communication, and the language we use every day.
Through his keynote, Unlock My Words, Shane explores how the smallest words can have the biggest impact on our lives—personally, professionally, and culturally. Whether on the airwaves or on stage, he helps audiences reframe how they connect, lead, and listen in a world desperate for clarity and authenticity. www.shanehewitt.ca
We hope that you'll join us at our Innovation Conference in Kamloops, June 2nd - 4th. Go to bit.ly/BCAC25 for registration information as well as handy information for hotels, transportation, add-on events and more. We look forward to seeing you!
Questions? Contact us!
(Shane Hewitt Bio, Submitted. Photo/Shane Hewitt)
Questions? Contact us!
SOLD OUT SOLD OUT SOLD OUT
DON'T PANIC! - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Our conference home base, the Delta Hotels Marriott Kamloops, we, well, sold out the entire building! Fortunately, two of our year-round, network-wide Hotel Partners – the Signature Sandman (BCAC code BCAVIATION) and the Coast (BCAC97) – have hotels in Kamloops. Enjoy preferred rates at either of these fine establishments by using the appropriate BCAC Supporter discount code. Visit the Travel Partners page on the BCAC website under Resources for details and also for a Budget Car Rental and Park 'n Fly airport parking. Safe travels!
(Photo/Delta Hotels Marriott)
Some Sponsorship Opportunities Available
Please contact Dave at dave@bcaviationcouncil.org to find out how you and/or your organization can help support – and grow – the aviation and aerospace industry in British Columbia. Don't forget about contributing items that promote your organization to our Online Auction. Personal donations of funds and items may be eligible to receive a charitable tax receipt.
BCIT Practicum Students Still Available
BC Aviation Council nabbed five!
My name is Rory O'Brien, and I am the Department Head of the Aviation Operations Programs at BCIT.
Each year, our Aviation Management and Operations Students participate in a Workplace Education Term. This is an opportunity for students to gain exposure to different areas of the industry, and to begin using the skills they have acquired in our program so far.
We have a few students from our current class still seeking placements. They are available immediately, and return to school full-time on August 25th, 2025. Placements can be paid or unpaid, and there is no minimum or maximum hours expected from employers.
It would be great if BCIT and your organization could collaborate on supporting some of these students with placements during this time. Thank you in advance for your support and participation in this program,
Rory O'Brien
Department Head, Aviation Operations Programs
School of Transportation, BC Institute of Technology
rory_obrien@bcit.ca
T 604.419.3723
(Photo/BCIT)
Hangar Hangout Setting Records
Tom Rattray, BC Aviation Council Youth Engagement Board Liason, colourfully outlines his career path while Hangar Hangout Chair Aman Rao looks on.
The BCAC's Youth Initiative, the very popular "Hangar Hangout" series, is enjoying record attendance - with 76 people registered for last month's hangout at Canadian Aviation College (YPK - Pitt Meadows Airport) and 73 registered for the most recent Hangar Hangout on May 22nd at the Observation Deck, Domestic Terminal, at YVR in Richmond, BC.
(Photo/Supplied)
CYPK, Gateway to the Lower Mainland
The Growth of Pitt Meadows Regional Airport
(YPK is sending three delegates to our Innovation Conference. There is a correlation between attending and ongoing success! :) Dave Frank, ED)
The Pitt Meadows Regional Airport, CYPK, is Canada’s ninth busiest airport and British Columbia’s third busiest. The airport has almost 500 aircraft, including float planes, approximately 350 hangar bays (with more than 100 bays under development), 11 Flight Training Units and 50 businesses employing 350 people. Aircraft movements have been steadily increasing since 2020 with more than 200,000 movements projected for 2025. The airport, owned by the Pitt Meadows Airport Society, occupies more than 700 acres of land adjacent to the Fraser River. A financially sound airport, YPK is your gateway to Canada’s future aviation economic hub.
The Pitt Meadows Airport Society is a not-for-profit entity governed by the City of Pitt Meadows and the City of Maple Ridge, both exceedingly supportive of the airport’s strategic direction. The airport’s board of directors include a mix of municipal employees and private sector members. The board’s President, Mark Roberts, is the City of Pitt Meadows’ Chief Administrative Officer (2015). He is serving his second term as President since joining the board in 2019.
Day-to-day airport operations rely on a small but mighty team of eight, flexing to 10 in the summer, led by Guy Miller, General Manager. Miller has an extensive aviation career, including roles as an RCAF fighter pilot; past member of the Fraser Blues aerobatic team; and a Cathay Pacific commercial airline pilot. In 2018 Miller joined the team at YPK to oversee an extensive airport revitalization project.
“In 2018 I found a time-worn airport with hangars approaching their useful service life, poor and lacking infrastructure, and an absence of strategic focus. The team embarked on a $9.7 million capital program to revitalize the airport, delivered over six years,” Miller says. “Our projects have touched nearly every piece of infrastructure at the airport, including lighting, signage, pavement, and fencing. These improvements allowed the airport to attract a slate of new private development, including a state-of-the-art terminal building, commercial operators, and enhanced hangars and commercial buildings. We have transformed YPK to become B.C.’s lower mainland’s gateway for the future of general and business aviation.”
The mission of the airport is to develop an environment for the benefit of its stakeholders. YPK’s primary vision is to be a significant contributor to the North Fraser region’s economic diversity through quality aviation services and vibrant business activity at the airport.
Ensuring long-term financial sustainability and accountability is of vital importance to the airport. The continued success of its development will improve the airport’s financial revenue ensuring long term financial sustainability and economic prosperity. YPK is a profitable airport generating more than 90 percent of its revenue from long-term land leases. Each year’s operating profit is re-invested into next year’s capital and operating budget, enabling airport services to thrive and expand. A 2015 economic impact study, by the InterVISTAS Consulting Group, found that the direct impact of ongoing operations at the airport included: 340 jobs with an average salary of $54,000; $15 million in household income; $24 million contributed to Canada’s GDP. The total economic impact of the airport is: 590 jobs with an average salary of $54,000; $27 million in household income; $45 million contributed to Canada’s GDP. The airport is currently undertaking an updated economic study to be completed in 2025. READ MORE
(Source: WINGS Magazine, Phil Lightstone. Photo/Neil Corbett)
SUPPORTER PROFILE
Open Day and Pancake Breakfast at the Nelson airport
Nelson Airport is also attending our Innovations Conference
On Saturday, April 19th, the Nelson airport hosted "Open Day" with an pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon.
In 1912, just nine years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight, a pilot flew his wood and fabric plane to Nelson’s annual fruit fair.
Nelson had entered the age of flight. But it wasn’t until after the Second World War that the City of Nelson, with a federal grant, purchased the site of the current airport from CP and the Ministry of the Environment and launched a visionary plan. Project No. 1 was a 3,400 foot runway, part of a series of lakeside projects, and in the early 1960s volunteers began work building one of the world’s most spectacular airports.
Today the airport, named for the popular wartime mayor Norman Stibbs, is a valuable piece of the city’s infrastructure supporting tourism, medevacs, wildfire control, commerce and recreation. Three rotary operators and numerous fixed wing aircraft bring a huge boost to the city and the region’s economy. It also hosts the only flight school in the West Kootenay, training over 20 new pilots every year.
The airport is available for local schools’ field trips where it takes only a little imagination to connect the small planes they see with intercontinental flight and space travel. The city’s air cadets relish their first flight experiences off the Nelson runway and celebrate their annual parade on its apron. On Remembrance Day, Nelson pilots overfly the cenotaph reminding us that aviation is not always as benign as sightseeing trips over local glaciers, whilst Open Days at the airport give direct access to the world of aviation.
In aviation circles, Nelson's airport ranks as one of the world’s most iconic. Surrounded by challenging terrain with its skill-demanding approaches and jaw-dropping scenery, the airport is on many pilots’ bucket list. Nestled in the heart of downtown, the Nelson airport connects every resident and visitor to the rich legacy of Canada's aviation inventors, pioneers, and dreamers, both past and present.
(Source: Submitted, Nelson Star. Photo/nelsonairport.ca)
Things that make you go, "Hmmmmmm." 🤔
Visit our Travel Partners for year-round Supporter savings.
Sincere thanks to our Pillar Partners for their ongoing support.
|
