aeronautical engineer

aircraft mechanic

painter

apprentice

quality assurance auditor

KF Aerospace

Typical day at work: Start the day with a meeting that gives info about the happenings of aircraft in house and safety. Receive your work order and do the task.

What I learned: Scheduled maintenance visit aircraft are very fast paced, quick aircraft turnaround. Aircraft wing/ hip tanks are very tight to crawl in and out of.

Management: I will say this. The crew chiefs I love, they are there to help you in anyway and will not shoo you away. This is the same with everyone on the floor, everyone wants to help you. Upper management is a mixed bag I find. Some upper management have things down to a science, and there are some who have unrealistic expectations about project completion dates. It just depends on which project you get put on, whether it be cargo door mods or SMV.

Workplace culture: I like it. Everyone is there to help out, or lend a tool to you if required. I feel respected around my friends who I work along side. 

Hardest part of the job: Dealing with upper management and the rules they come up with that hinder your progression of your task.

Most enjoyable part of the job: Doing actual structures work (IE riveting on repairs or mods). Interacting with the people on the floor can make the day go by smoother.

I would highly recommend not working at this workplace. Do not get sucked in by an easy apprentice hire, as they’re always needing new people to replace the amount of exiting employees. Management is completely out for themselves, to look good and make the most amount of money on projects. No consideration for employees needs, even if it’s a shift change to match you’re partners schedule. Employees themselves that work 3rd party maintenance (tighter contracts due to lower bidding on customer projects) makes job card hours so tight, you have to work at a very fast pace. Something we all were taught in school to never do. If you can’t complete a card in the allotted time and it happens a couple times, you will not be given that job again. This ends up hindering learners as they will only be on rudimentary task and never get the larger, more serious tasks that help you grow as an AME. Employees are upset with this workplace in the floor and voiced there opinions everyday to each other, this makes for a very negative hangar and every hangar is the same In their respects. Trades mech/structures/avionics  very poorly talk about each other, I’ve never seen this at any other workplace. Pay is always lower than the fast growing industry standard, cost of living increases are so far below the years average. I worked here for almost 5 years, don’t make the same mistake I did as a new apprentice.  

Worst company I have ever worked for!!!!  Lots of toxic people. It takes a long time to work your way into the group, if ever.  The HR department is a disaster.  I would not recommend working here under any trade but specially NDT. The pay is no good. Not enough NDT technicians so you are run off your feet all day and you HAVE TO work on-call weekends.  The NDT department is a toxic environment and very cliquey. If you don’t fit the mold they want you in then you will be blacklisted and excluded. If you come from the oil and gas industry or nuclear DO NOT WORK HERE! They are all very closed minded and you will not fit in.  If you are small and capable of fitting in the small spaces you will be stuck doing all that work forever with little to no help. Although there are other people in the shop that can fit too, they think it’s beneath them and that they have already put in their time. If you feel bullied or belittled by anyone in the NDT shop you will not receive help with this because this company believes in experience and does not care about what is right or wrong. You are not a human in their eyes. You are dollar signs. HR is not your friend and will not help you. 

Working at KF Aerospace was such a mistake, the company is so unorganized it makes brain hurt, nothing is structured and every thing feels so random.

The first warning I have to give you is one day you could be working at one department then all of sudden they have you work in another without any warning or anything. The lay off are also very random as well and seem to happen a lot at KF aerospace but only in Hamilton for some reason. A lot of times work slows down and before Christmas they have a shut down for a couple of weeks.

It's not a good working there, way to unorganized instead of giving you a role they throw you around here and there and add more responsibilities as they go, the pay is also low and your shifts can change every week from mornings to afternoons.

$17 and change to start at an aerospace company is unrealistic.
Was told on the phone interview that wages could be negotiated, when I went in for the interview it was brought up and then shut down in the same sentence without any negotiation. 
Being in a department that you're exposed to dangerous chemicals, even with proper PPE, it's still dangerous and unhealthy and wages should absolutely match up with the workplace Hazzard level. This company does not, and as far as I see from other reviews, they just say they use proper PPE, but don't be fooled. PPE does not protect you from all the risks working with chemicals brings. 
The job itself seems easy enough, but people need livable wages too. 
They can build a new wing, hire hundreds of new employees but can't pay people more for the special skills they bring to the table.

This company is in dire need of workers yet is unwilling to pay competitively, offer good benefits or incentives. The cost of living in the area is high and many employees have a pretty low standard of living. The result; as soon as apprentices are licensed, they leave to work somewhere else. There is approximately 1 licenced AME to 10 unlicensed apprentices. You can imagine the issues that arise. Management is clueless and has no concern or appreciation for employees. Never expect a thank you. Your concerns and/or recommendations will never be heard. Health and safety is of little concern. Hours aren’t great. The facility is in bad condition. My crew lead and co workers were great to work with, but management made working at KF painful. *HAMILTON LOCATION*

I work in the kelowna base. I joined as a junior employee who knew nothing about aircraft, and now I have moved up within my crew. Aircraft service trainee is a great position to start your career. I am now taking the structures course online to advance within the company. The employees are great to work with, and although management is far from perfect, continuous improvement is a new focus here which is helpful with making changes. The work does come in waves which can be frustrating but it's mostly fast-paced which makes the day go by. They let employees take surveys, and this year when a change to shifts was being considered the employees affected by it got to vote.

I have worked for this company for over 25 years and have loved every minute of it. I started fresh out of AME trade school and have been given loads of opportunities to progress through all the job levels and positions. KF Aerospace has been a stable work environment for 50 years and still continues to grow and expand each day which inturn offers new opportunities for employees to expand their careers. I would highly recommend KF Aerospace in all its locations across Canada as they have built this company around great people and fantastic teamwork !!

Everyone is leaving due to poor wages, causing more strain and causing more exits. Morale is basement level. Good benefits, I'll give them that.
Management is sketchy, you can't trust any of them. You know when people smile but not with their eyes? That's anyone in authority there.
Disregard for health and safety. Mental health workers? That's a joke. Most of them are in management and in that place most of them are narcissistic/psychopathic. How are they supposed to help.
Overall, at least we get to look at aircraft.

Really enjoyable to work with planes; learned a lot about them and that knowledge grows everyday. Management is great, they listen and respect your opinion and needs; along with the crew. Entertaining to work with and are great mentors to foggy areas I'm unaware of. Most enjoyable area of the job must be, to physically be able to see the plane to what it really is. Gutting it and seeing the bare basics, then having to eventually put it all back together is a great picture to have.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Aeronautical engineer 20 salaries reported	$41.09 per hour
Aircraft mechanic 19 salaries reported	$41.01 per hour
Painter 10 salaries reported	$29.66 per hour
Apprentice 4 salaries reported	$27.99 per hour
Quality assurance auditor 13 salaries reported	$90,110 per year

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