From its roots in aircraft painting and sales, Flying Colours expanded into the MRO and interiors sphere in 1989. The company is marking this 30-year milestone still under the helm of founder and president John Gillespie.
The privately owned, family-run company began with a small hangar dedicated to painting turboprops and small jets at Peterborough Airport in Ontario, Canada. It is now an international company known for its maintenance, avionics, interior design, completion and refurbishment abilities, including its branded CRJ ExecLiner and special-mission expertise.
Once the smallest business at the airport, it is now the largest airport tenant and is currently expanding its headquarters’ footprint with the addition of a fourth hangar measuring more than 100,000ft² (9,290m²).
A second base was established in 2009 when Flying Colours purchased JetCorp Technical services in St Louis, Missouri, which became Flying Colours KSUS in 2013. The expanded site now consists of a 40,000ft² (3,716m²) dedicated cabinetry and interiors facility along with a further 60,000ft² (5,574m²) of hangars, the most recent of which opened its doors for business in January 2019.
With the opening of a Singapore interiors division at the Bombardier Seletar Airport facility in 2015, Flying Colours became truly international. An Asia Pacific-based team provides services ranging from interior touch-ups to complete refurbishments for Bombardier aircraft based in the region. The site’s global team is anticipated to exceed more than 500 employees by year-end.
“It’s a well-known fact that the business aviation sector is a competitive and challenging industry to succeed in, and we are extremely proud to be marking our 30th anniversary this year,” said Gillespie.
“In some ways it feels like we are just getting started as we still have a lot of exciting plans to implement over the next decades. It goes without saying we would not have got to where we are without the support of our elite set of customers who value the fact we can deliver even the most complex project, our reliable long-term partners, and most importantly, our highly motivated and skilled technical teams. As the years progress this is set to continue to grow.”
Flying Colours plans to mark its 30th year with internal and external events with customers, partners and its growing in-house team to demonstrate its gratitude to those that have worked and supported the business through the years.
