Kenmore Air history

The aircraft was conceived and built in Ontario, Canada, its first flight was logged in 1947.

1951: Kenmore Air secures its first contract with the federal government.

In 1953, for example, a Canadian mining operation turned to Kenmore Air for help in establishing a mining camp north of Ketchikan, Alaska.

In 1959, a new office and shop building was built near the original hangar.

They purchased their first Beaver in 1963 and the Beaver soon became a centerpiece of Kenmore Air's fleet, and they created a rebuilding and modification program around the seven-passenger aircraft.

Ford, an avid pilot who took his first flying lesson in 1965, happened upon a de Havilland Beaver in Santa Monica, Calif., which belonged to John Nordstrom.

In the summer of 1968, Kenmore Air began flying supplies into a research station on South Cascade Glacier, which was 70 miles northeast of Kenmore and getting data out.

In the spring of 1970, he began doing the same for a University of Washington research station on the Blue Glacier, which spilled off the summit of Mount Olympus over on the Olympic Peninsula.

Kenmore Air expanded beyond charter flights, beginning scheduled service in 1986.

Otter Air offered scheduled service from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia, routes Kenmore Air operated for two years before selling them to its main competitor, Lake Union Air, in 1988.

1992: Kenmore Air acquires its principal competitor, Lake Union Air.

In January 1993, Kenmore Air acquired Lake Union Air Service, which was its primary seaplane competitor in the Seattle area.

A year after the acquisition, Kenmore Air converted one of Lake Union Air's de Havilland Otters into a turbine-powered aircraft, which, after the purchase of several Turbo Otters in 1994, gave the company the largest Turbo Otter fleet in the world.

Kenmore Air turned 50 years old in 1996, an anniversary that was celebrated at the northern end of Lake Washington on June 1.

In 1997, he was inducted into the Pathfinder Hall of Fame at the Museum of Flight,

In 1998, one year after Munro proposed the idea, Kenmore Air obtained a federal permit to float a 25-foot-square dock on Elliott Bay and to begin offering seaplane service.

In 1999, he was inducted into the Washington State Aeronautics Hall of Fame.

In October 2000, Robert Munro, the company's founder, and owner, died at age 83 after an extended illness.