President: Anthony Kokai-Kuun
Anthony is an ATPL licensed Airline Pilot with a BSc. in Geological Sciences from the University of British Columbia and over 21,000 hours of flight experience.
Anthony started his career as a Flight instructor in 1989 and advanced to a Class 1 Flight Instructor and then a charter pilot on the Piper Navajo and Beech King Air. In 1994, and in no small part due to injustices that he saw in the industry, Anthony founded his own aircraft company, North Vancouver Airlines Ltd. North Vancouver Air grew from an airline with 2 six passenger aircraft to eventually operate 11 aircraft including 2 Piper Navajos, 2 Piper Chieftains, 2 Beechcraft King Air 100s and 4 Jetstream 31s (19 passenger 704 operations) and 53 full time pilots.
Anthony closed North Vancouver Air in 2005. In the meantime he was hired in 1998 by Air Transat and was thus running North Vancouver Air and flying full time for Air Transat from 1998 until 2005. At Air Transat, Anthony flew as First Officer on the Lockheed L-1011 and Airbus A-330, then advanced to Captain on the Airbus A-310, A-330, Boeing 737 and the Airbus A-321 Neo LR.
Anthony has volunteered on several union Committees at Air Transat (ALPA) including the Communications Committee, Training Committee, and Retirement Committee, and is involved with feedback initiatives with ALPA and Air Transat.
Anthony has always been an advocate for safe professional aircraft operations and joined the CPPC early in its development with high hopes for the College. Anthony became a Director of the College in 2022 and has recently been bestowed the honour to represent the College as its President.
“I have a passion for aviation and the goal to help make the profession of piloting the respected and sought after career it once was. Mentoring and advocating for all Commercial Pilots and especially my younger colleagues from all backgrounds is something that I have always done. As President of the College of Professional Pilots of Canada (CPPC) I plan to bring that goal to the next level. After all, every day pilots safely and professionally operate thousands of flights with hundreds of thousands of passengers in the difficult and challenging Canadian environment. That achievement, day in and day out, year after year, is the direct result of the experience, hard work and dedication of our Canadian Commercial Pilots and it deserves respect. Only through a body such as the CPPC will pilots be able to champion issues that go beyond unions and regulations that affect our lives as pilots on a daily basis.”
Vice President: Jim Spentzas
Jim knew from a very young age that he wanted to be in, or around, airplanes. Growing up in Canada and Europe, Jim first successfully completed an Oil Engineering degree followed by an Aircraft Maintenance license before setting his sights on obtaining his pilot qualifications. After returning to British Columbia in 1996, Jim quickly completed his Canadian Pilot licenses. He joined a Canadian cargo start-up as a Second Officer on the Boeing 727.
One opportunity led to another and Jim stayed in the business flying on the Boeing 727, with different companies for several years. During this time, he also became involved in the training of newly hired pilots, which sparked his interest in mentoring the younger generation of pilots. In 2011, Jim left the night cargo business in favour of a Canadian Charter operation flying the Boeing 737NG, where he is presently Captain.
Secretary-Treasurer: David Shi
David has worn many hats throughout his work careers. His favourite however is that of flight instructor.
An overarching aim of his is to make a positive impact on growing Canadian aviation, specifically by enhancing the standards of the profession to the benefit of all pilots, preparing student pilots the fast-moving industry of today, and improving flight training instruction and standards.
Aside from line flying, he is serving as Career and Industry advisor for the aviation programs at his alma mater, Mount Allison University, as well as part-time instructing at a large flight school in the Maritimes. He also volunteers his time as translator for the Webster Memorial Trophy team, and in the past, has served on the judge panel.
With the College of Pilots, David leverages his experience in data analysis, graphics, and flight instruction to complete projects set by the board.
“I view my role as that of a care-taker. In conjunction with service providers, I run the back-end required to maintain the College’s presence as an additional option for resources and representation for pilots at all levels. It is my hope that the College can receive widespread support from all pilots, so that it can provide in return a non-union, non-industry, impartial voice for safety and our profession throughout industry, and be a definitive authority when it comes to representing our overlapping interests with the travelling public. Going forward into the age of social media and AI, it will be more important than ever to have as many established voices in our corner.”