March 11, 2019

Flying Colours Corp. celebrates employee service anniversaries

Flying Colours Corp., the North American maintenance, repair, overhaul and completions business, recently celebrated employee service anniversaries with a luncheon at its Peterborough, Ontario, headquarters.

Debbie Amman, senior vice president finance and administration was acknowledged for working with Flying Colours President John Gillespie for more than 40 years, as was Tony Barrett senior vice president technical services, who has worked with John for 37 years. Both were present to witness the company evolution to a full MRO, interiors and modification business in 1989.

Achieving his AME license in 1985 Barrett became Flying Colours Director of Maintenance in 1988 and has experienced the company’s development from a single hangar and a small team, as he progressed from AME to DOM to VP Maintenance. As the size of the aircraft increased from Pipers and Beech 99s through to Bombardier Challenger types up to Bombardier CRJ size, so Barrett’s career progressed to where as Senior Vice President he is supporting the company’s ambition to be a team of 500 by the end of the year. “It has been a tremendous journey for me personally and professionally over the decades at Flying Colours. The opportunity to join as an AME and develop a career path through to senior VP at the same business is a rare one. It is an honour to have worked here for so long. I’m still excited to see what the future brings for Flying Colours as it continues its exponential growth,” said Barrett.

At the celebration, Flying Colours provided a catered lunch for employees and honoured 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30-year employees. In all, 111 employees from operations, production, engineering paintwork, maintenance, administration and management groups celebrated a milestone anniversary and received a customized plaque. The ceremony was preceded by a town hall-type discussion where employees were encouraged to ask questions of senior leadership; a hallmark of Flying Colours commitment to transparent management.

“We’re proud that we’ve created a culture where employees are valued and where they choose to stay. We’re fortunate to be in a growth mode right now and we’re looking for additional people to join our work family, especially skilled craftspeople and aircraft technicians. We’re confident that once they join our team, we’ll one day be celebrating their service anniversaries, too,” says Sean Gillespie, Executive VP Flying Colours Corp.

Photo Caption: Tony Barrett, one of a 111 long term employees celebrated by Flying Colours