Geoff Ritchie

Introduction

Geoff Ritchie, the president and CEO of the Prince George Airport Authority in British Columbia, was fired by the authority’s board on October 2, 2026 for ordering a blockade of a Central Mountain Air plane and manipulating a procurement process, according to a termination letter from the board chair. The dismissal only became public after the authority went to B.C. Supreme Court, where a judge ordered Ritchie to return his company-issued cellphone, which the airport said contained sensitive business and personnel information.

Background Information

Ritchie began his aviation career in 2000 as an aircraft maintenance manager with the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom and spent five and a half years as director of commercial and air service at Kelowna International Airport before joining the Prince George Airport Authority (PGAA) in July 2025 as its chief executive. Trouble surfaced within months: on May 6, 2026, Central Mountain Air vice-president Karin Binder reported March 9-11 incidents involving Ritchie to PGAA chair Derek Dougherty, and Ritchie was suspended with pay on May 21, accused of instructing an employee to impede the runway for a CMA plane, snatching flight logs from a pilot, and being involved in a physical altercation with an employee. The board hired HM Aero Aviation Consulting to run an external investigation, whose findings, Dougherty said, “deeply troubled” the board.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Fired for cause; allegations untested in court. The board terminated Ritchie on October 2, 2026, citing serious misconduct; none of the allegations has been tested in court and Ritchie has yet to file a reply in the proceedings that made them public.

The consultant’s findings, recounted in Dougherty’s affidavit, describe the March 9 blockade: Ritchie allegedly directed PGAA personnel to position Truck 81 in front of the CMA jet and additional equipment behind it, and directed staff to tell CMA the aircraft’s keys were lost and would only be found if the airline settled its outstanding balance with the airport. The next day, the flight crew was told the aircraft was being “seized” and/or “commandeered”; Ritchie then got into a physical and verbal altercation with a CMA employee “attempting to forcibly take possession of his phone” and directed workers to park additional vehicles around the plane after it was towed. The board also cited a two-week period in July 2026 when Ritchie sought access to the PGAA network and file folders after his suspension. In the termination letter, Dougherty wrote that Ritchie “committed serious misconduct that undermined safety, integrity and respect within PGAA and for the flight crew, passengers and other personnel,” failed to report the incidents on the airport’s safety management system, and “promoted an environment that discourages employees to report safety concerns and have caused PGAA personnel a fear of reprisal.” The board further accused Ritchie of manipulating the February 2026 electrical services procurement — allegedly tailoring the expression of interest to favour a prospective applicant he had met with and briefed before the procurement was announced, and directing an employee to have that bidder reduce its rates to be more competitive.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The firing stayed secret for two weeks until the airport authority itself went to B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver to compel Ritchie to return his company phone, which a judge ordered be returned on October 16 after PGAA said it contained sensitive business and personnel information and that Ritchie breached his contract by refusing to return it. Dougherty’s letter told Ritchie his dealings with CMA had “seriously put PGAA’s relationship with CMA at jeopardy and created risk to PGAA,” and that he failed to follow standard business and decision-making practices while interfering without authorization with CMA’s leased spaces.

Current Status

Ritchie was terminated on October 2, 2026 and is no longer employed by the airport authority. None of the allegations against him has been tested in court, and he has yet to file a reply in the B.C. Supreme Court proceedings. The cellphone litigation remains the public vehicle through which the termination’s details have emerged.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A 26-year aviation career that ran from the Royal Air Force through a directorship at Kelowna International ended roughly fifteen months into Ritchie’s tenure at Prince George, with the external consultant’s findings and the chair’s termination letter painting a picture of a CEO who blockaded an airline’s aircraft over a billing dispute, physically scuffled with its employee, and tried to tilt a procurement toward a favoured bidder. The court fight over his phone means the airport’s allegations against him remain in active litigation, with Ritchie’s side of the story not yet on the public record.

Sources

• Prince George Citizen, “Scandal at YXS: Fired CEO accused of blockading plane, rigging electrical bid.” source