Kevin Waters Tribute - Penobscot Island Air
Two nights ago I learned about the unexpected passing of Penobscot Island Air’s owner/founder Kevin Waters. Absolutely shattered properly described my mental state after that phone call. In 2012 I befriended Kevin after attending Maine Media Workshops in Camden, Maine. I found out about the unique local air service when I read the AOPA Pilot article featuring them in 2005, so I had to stop in and check it out. I always knew that Penobscot Island Air fully embodied the type of professional flying I wanted to do if I ever got the chance. What I didn’t know then was how much of one man’s love and energy poured into the business.
In 2012, Cam Held and I made our first documentary together on Penobscot Island Air. Kevin gave Cam and I an all-access pass to take any flights we wanted and interview whoever wanted to be on camera. I left Maine that spring with my first ever professional video for my portfolio, but left behind an entire new community of island pilots that I loved and respected. I went back periodically to visit Penobscot Island Air. I’d fly east in a rented Cessna 172 just to say hi to Kevin. Life caught up with me though, and it’s been a few years since I sat and chatted with Kevin in his office.
Kevin was far more than the operator of an air taxi service, he was an American hero and undoubtedly the nicest person I’ve ever met. That’s not to shun all the very lovely people I’ve had the privilege of knowing in this life. It’s just that Kevin’s amazing personality and generosity were unmatched. Everyone was an equal in his eyes. Kevin frequently told people ‘they counted,’ or that they ‘were family.’ The amount of love he reserved for everyone in his circle was wholeheartedly genuine. He never forgot you, and he’d do anything for you at the drop of a hat. Kevin served the entirety of Penobscot Bay with pride, and the community worshiped him for it.
He ran an extremely complex (and I imagine stressful) essential service around the clock since 2004, all while treating every single person in his presence as if they were his closest friend. Penobscot Island Air is a Part 135 air charter service. Just the number of FAA regulations someone in his shoes would have to comb through would drive the majority of us crazy. But he barely flinched. His bad days were infrequent, and his good days saved lives. Not only is the air service a transporter of people and packages, but it’s a medivac for the islands, flying in weather that helicopters cannot. Thankfully Penobscot Island Air will continue to fly, with their amazing team of pilots and ground crew that keep their customers safe. Having observed the operations over the past eight years, I know Kevin’s unwavering love and determination that got the service off the ground will live on every time a Cessna 206 or 207 cranks over on the ramp of Knox County Regional Airport. I know I share with entire communities in saying that I will sorely miss this man.
Fly safe Kevin. I hope this tribute video does some justice to the amazing life you lived.