Chris Niemann is President and CEO of Conair Group Inc., a privately owned aerial firefighting company headquartered in Abbotsford, British Columbia. With its U.S. subsidiary Aero-Flite, Conair operates a fleet of more than 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including Dash 8-400 airtankers and CL-415 scoopers, supporting wildfire agencies across Canada, the United States and Australia.
Chris brings more than 30 years of aviation experience to the role. Before becoming CEO in 2025, he served as General Manager of Aero-Flite, with full responsibility for Conair's U.S. firefighting operations. He previously spent nearly 14 years at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, in roles ranging from engineering to aviation safety, and most recently as Senior Director of Operations, overseeing unmanned aircraft operations across more than 70 locations worldwide and over 600,000 annual flight hours. Having managed both crewed and uncrewed fleets, he evaluates technology through an operator's lens; it must deliver measurable gains in performance and cost.
A former U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot and instructor, Chris holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate, a BS in Physics from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.