2019
Bert Vergeer
Toronto, ON
Bert Vergeer is a leader, innovator, and forerunner in the global aviation industry. Together with his wife Helen, they developed one of the first computerized maintenance software products for digital record-keeping and live inventory management, which would go on to revolutionize the industry.
Bert received his AME license in 1977 while working as an Aircraft Maintenance Technician. In 1980, he was offered a Lead Engineer position at an international company working in Khartoum, Sudan. During this time, Bert identified the inefficiencies and potential consequences inherent in using paper, whiteboards, and spreadsheets to track maintenance.
In 1987, he accepted a position as an Aviation Auditor at European Expedite, where he provided comprehensive aircraft and safety-related information to mitigate a successful multi-year civil suit. His findings were instrumental in settling the case.
The next year, Bert and Helen initiated the development of their original software, AV-BASE Systems, which would come to be known as “WinAir.” They envisioned that this system would convert paper-based or spreadsheet-based reactive companies into digitized, harmonized, and proactive operations.
In 1989, Bert was a Production Manager at Clearwater Aircraft and worked on the software in the evenings. In 1991, they completed the development of the product. It was software that would streamline and expedite work steps based on aviation industry best practices and assist with maintaining compliance.
Over the intervening years, Bert grew the company and product. He identified a need for accurately developed aircraft templates built to exact OEM specifications. WinAir now has an in-house Aircraft Services department that creates templates and can do aircraft compliance and data loading for clients.
In 2018, WinAir was recognized by the London Chamber of Commerce as medium-sized Business of the Year. The same year, it became a finalist at the Ontario Business Achievement Awards.
Today, the company is comprised of over 50 staff and lays claim to hundreds of software installations worldwide. From airlines to heli-ops, law enforcement agencies, oil industry suppliers, MROs, CAMOs, medical evacuation response teams and more, businesses using WinAir regard the solution as a necessary component to the successful management of their fleet maintenance programs.