30-Year USCG Veteran Aviator Focusing On Member Benefits

The Vertical Aviation International Board of Directors announced its new leadership officers in April, and all began their one-year tenures on July 1 including Rick Kenin, the Board’s new Chairman. Kenin is a 30-year veteran pilot of the U.S. Coast Guard and the civilian sector currently serving as COO of the nonprofit Boston MedFlight.

During Kenin’s 30 years he served at 12 different duty stations from Alaska to the Caribbean islands and South America on a wide variety of assignments such as shipboard patrols, the U.S. Senate, flying USCG rotorcraft and jets.

Rick’s exploits range from lifesaving rescues to drug interdictions and international diplomacy. he brings a knowledge of strategic perspective gleaned from his action-filled career to his new role as the leader of VAI.

His first ten years were spent in the cockpit of a modified Dassault Falcon 20 called the HU-25 Guardian, mostly on the Coast Guard’s new mission profile of aerial interdiction to nab drug smugglers in small aircraft.

After retiring from the Coast Guard in 2014, Kenin joined Boston MedFlight to lead the company’s operations and then guided it through the Part 135 certification process for rotorcraft and subsequently fixed-wing aircraft.

As Chairman of VAI’s board, Rick believes that expanding into new opportunities, maintaining access, and integrating new technology are critical issues facing the industry. He also thinks restrictions on how and where operators fly affects the overall safety of the industry.

Rick says, “One of the biggest issues is the integration of new vertical aviation technologies for advanced air mobility and unmanned aerial systems. We need to figure out how to operate safely in the airspace together.”

“We have to be willing to invest in the technology for sense and avoid. I have no doubt that there will always be a need for manned helicopters. The things you can do with a helicopter are just so unique, but there is also a future need for unmanned aerial systems and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Being able to integrate all those together is key.”

He concedes that managing those issues will be challenging, but Rick is confident VAI can be the leader, and said, “The VAI Board is very different from HAI’s board. Today, we’re much more focused on the strategic future of the association and the industry.

“The VAI staff is spectacular—it’s not the job of the board to get involved in their day-to-day operations. VAI is the voice of the vertical aviation industry. Being on the board has opened my eyes to the entire breadth of vertical aviation and its some 44 mission areas.”

FMI:  verticalavi.org/