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Scenes from Careers in Aviation Mississauga

September 23, 2019 By Wings Staff

WestJet opened up its Mississauga hangar on September 21 to help inspire the future of aviation.

Approximately 325 attendees, in addition to more than 100 industry professionals representing 50-plus exhibitors, attended last weekend’s Careers in Aviation Expo held inside WestJet’s hangar in Mississauga, Ontario. This was the second leg of the 2019 Careers in Aviation Expo program, after a May event took place inside WestJet’s new 787 Dreamliner hangar at the Calgary International Airport.

Scenes from Careers in Aviation Calgary

Charles Duncan, executive vice president and chief strategy officer of WestJet, kicked the day off in Mississauga with a 30-minute keynote address about the growth and direction of the Calgary-based airline, before answering questions from the engaged audience for close to 20 minutes.

Edward Hoskin, vice president of engineering for Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), who is responsible for leading all engineering activities across the company’s Canadian operation, as well as directing P&WC’s vital Plant 22 in Mississauga, provided the second main-stage presentation. Rob Fox, chief pilot for Levaero Aviation, also spent time on the main stage describing his career development and the growth of Canada’s exclusive Pilatus distributor.

John Aaron, VP and GM of WestJet Encore, began the afternoon with a main-stage presentation describing WestJet’s position in the domestic market. Annemarie Mercedes Heikenwalder then completed the main-stage presentations by describing the growth of Diamond Aircraft in London, Ontario, and around the world.

In between these main-stage presentations, dozens of attendees took advantage of more than 40 breakout sessions throughout the day. They had the chance to sit down with AMEs (avionics, structures, M1 and M2) and pilots (both fixed wing and rotary wing), in small groups, for first-hand accounts of career development in aviation.

Attendees were also able to sit in on four Human Resources Breakout Sessions throughout the day. Company briefings were provided by NAV Canada, AeroCourse, Skyservice, Harbour Air and the Canadian Armed Forces.

In addition to premier sponsor WestJet, Careers in Aviation Mississauga was sponsored by Levaero Aviation, Centennial College, Diamond Aircraft, Flying Colours, Million Air, Sunwest Aviation, Pratt & Whitney Canada, and lunch sponsor Lufthansa Technik.