1940s The airline was established as
Kenmore Air Harbor and started operations on March 21, 1946. It was founded by Robert Munro, Reginald Collins and Jack Mines and began operations with a single
Aeronca Model K seaplane and a hangar at a location formerly occupied by a lumber mill on north
Lake Washington. The airline is still at its original location. After a short-term partnership Munro continued alone with the company until his death in October 2000. The company was originally named
Mines Collins Munro but was changed to the current name
Kenmore Air a few months later to reflect its ties to the town of
Kenmore, Washington where its operations were located both then and now. After beginning operations with its Aeronca Model K, it purchased three more aircraft a few weeks later. Kenmore Air also became an official aircraft and parts dealer for
Cessna by the end of the 1950s, further expanding its aircraft maintenance business.
1960s In the 1960s, Kenmore Air expanded its maintenance services to include the
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver seaplane. 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. After the Beaver ceased production in 1967, Kenmore Air began to establish itself as a leading refurbisher of the seaplane. They modified and rebuilt Beavers to such an extent that such aircraft modified by the company has become known as "Kenmore Beavers" by the global aviation community.
1970s In the early 1970s, in a contract with the US Navy, Kenmore Air transported unarmed torpedoes to a joint US-Canadian testing facility near
Vancouver Island.
1980s In the mid-1980s Kenmore Air purchased Otter Air, an airline that offered seaplane service from Seattle to Victoria, BC. The Seattle-Victoria route was operated for two years before it was sold to its competitor Lake Union Air in 1988. Kenmore Air also added two Turbine Beavers (a Beaver manufactured with a
PT-6 Engine, 60 of which were made by de Havilland) in the late 1980s and purchased its main competitor Lake Union Air in 1992. With this purchase, Kenmore Air acquired a seaplane terminal on
Lake Union. They converted one of Lake Union Air's
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters into a Turbine Otter and later purchased several more Turbine Otters. in 1997 it planned to begin operating service from Elliott Bay, a body of water on
Puget Sound where Seattle's downtown waterfront is located. In 1998, Kenmore Air gained a federal permit allowing them to begin operations there, pending approval from Seattle's city council. The company later abandoned its plans in fall 1999 after encountering resistance from members of the local community.
2000s In October 2000, Robert Munro, the company's founder, and owner, died at age 83 after an extended illness. Ownership was passed to Munro's son, Gregg Munro, while several other family members also held management positions at Kenmore Air. and in Victoria have been growing increasingly concerned about noise and safety on the water. In Sept 2011 Victoria the St. James Community commissioned a report that calls for "serious restrictions on seaplane businesses" (which include other services like helicopters). Kenmore Air has responded by encouraging their pilots to follow limited flight paths in Seattle In 2013 when new high rise condos were proposed by Vulcan in South Lake Union neighborhood, Kenmore requested that an easement be placed on new residents to prevent them from filing noise complaints.
2018 Kenmore Air and
Harbour Air started a new seaplane service between Downtown
Vancouver, BC and Downtown
Seattle, WA on April 26, 2018. The service was suspended by Kenmore and Harbour air after the
COVID-19 pandemic caused international travel to become inaccessible. Kenmore Air has resumed scheduled service to Vancouver.
2023 Kenmore Air Express began twice daily service from
Friday Harbor to
Victoria International Airport in the city of
Sidney. The flight is operated on Kenmore's
Cessna 208B Caravan. The flight departs and arrives into the Friday Harbor airport with options to connect through to both
Boeing Field and
Paine Field. ==Destinations==