- The acquisition of a fleet of Boeing P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft by the RCAF crossed a landmark last week when the US Navy placed a 17-aircraft order with Boeing. The order will be split with 14 P-8As going to the RCAF and three to Germany’s Luftwaffe. A key sensor system for the aircraft, based on Boeing’s 737 airliner, will be supplied by Burlington, Ontario-based L3Harris Wescam. The company’s gyro-stabilized MX-20HD digital electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) multi-spectral sensor turret can be equipped with up to seven different sensors.
- Forbes, the American business-oriented magazine, has recognized Montreal-based CAE by adding them to a list of the World’s Top Companies for Women for 2024. The award is presented in collaboration with Statistica, a company specializing in business statistics and industry rankings. “At CAE, we have made it a strategic priority to ensure women have the support, opportunities and resources to grow and thrive,” CAE’s Chief People Officer Hélène V. Gagnon said. In 2024, CAE was also named one of the Top Diversity Employers by the Financial Times and one of Time magazine’s World’s Best Companies.
- Patients at Runway Dental’s Sidney office get to share in the dentist’s passion for aviation. With a view of two of Victoria airport’s three runways from several of the office’s rooms, Dr. Chris Souliotis’s patients are also immersed in the aviation-themed décor at the second-floor location. A recently licenced private pilot, Dr. Souliotis indulged his passion by building a mock Boeing 737 fuselage inside. “It’s quite a centrepiece,” Souliotis said.
- Flying Officer Ken Raven flew a Spitfire while posted in Britain with the RCAF during the Second World War, having trained on a Harvard in his home country of Canada. In September, Ontario-born Raven, now 101 years old, took to the skies once again – once again at the controls of a Harvard. “He’s a great pilot, everything seemed to come back to him,” pilot Allan Paige told the CBC. Raven took the control of the vintage aircraft for about 10 minutes. The flight was arranged by the Tillsonburg, Ontario-based Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association.
- Mirabel, Quebec-based Nolinor Aviation has upped the pay scale of its maintenance technicians by nine to 20 percent, according to an announcement last week. “Our maintenance team is one of the key ingredients to our success,” company president Marco Prud’Homme said. “By investing in their development and well being, we strengthen our position in the market and become a top choice for many.”