Vincent Gagnon, pilot at heart
As far back as he can remember, Vincent Gagnon, President of Chrono Aviation, has always been attracted to machinery and engines. While at 18 he was heading towards law studies, a trip to the South changed his destiny. Back on the course of an unusual driver.
At 18, Vincent Gagnon took the plane for the first time with his girlfriend at the time, to spend a vacation in the South. But during the flight, he feels overcome by fear. On the way back, to the surprise of his girlfriend, he decides to enroll in a flying course. “My girlfriend did not understand my decision
since I had been scared during the flight. But the fear was also accompanied by pleasure. I had liked this feeling of adrenaline which one has when one is in the sky , explains the businessman. Very quickly, he knows that it is in aviation that he will find his way. In seven months, he obtained his bush pilot's license and began to fly seaplanes. At 23, he was hired by Air Canada and worked for its regional subsidiary Air Alliance. A year later, he was hired by the airline to perform international flights. There he became one of the youngest wide-body pilots. He will stay there for 23 years.
My entrepreneurial spirit comes from my maternal grandfather who owned a large construction company. I always admired him even though he died when I was very young.
Alongside his career as a pilot, Vincent Gagnon set up various businesses. “My entrepreneurial spirit comes from my maternal grandfather who owned a large construction company. I always admired him even though he died when I was very young. I had all kinds of businesses in
my life, including T-shirts and caps. But it was in 2005, at the age of 35, that I launched the most important before Chrono Aviation: Aerotek Aviation. It specializes in the purchase and sale of aircraft as well as the conversion and installation of turbines. I am still the owner and president. »
In 2012, when he was a wide-body pilot for Air Canada, the president of Pilatus Canada suggested that he launch an air service in Quebec based on Pilatus aircraft. The idea is gaining ground. For his part, Dany Gagnon, a longtime friend who also flies in his spare time in addition to being a radio host
and on television, has the same idea at the same time. That's all it took for the two friends to decide to conquer the business aircraft charter market. “Dany and I have known each other since we were 23. We had always talked about starting a business together. It was an opportunity,” he recalls.
The two accomplices very quickly make their place in a field that is nevertheless renowned for not being easy, and they obtain the success that we know. But when you're president of a thriving business with nearly 300 employees, do you still have time to steer? To this question, Vincent Gagnon
replies that "he regularly flies his personal helicopter to go fishing or hunting in the Far North so as not to lose control". But above all, he started taking Boeing 737-800 flight lessons to become a commander on these cargo planes. Chrono Aviation is in fact the first and only company to date in Canada to use this type of aircraft. And the training is going so well that some of his colleagues ask him with a laugh if he hasn't stolen on the sly for the past three years. “I haven't lost anything. I missed flying with my gang so much! he exclaims. Once a pilot, always a pilot, one could say of him.