AirportBusiness Blogs

I saw a new example of my old pet peeve on Monday—an airport with almost no, repeat, no, signs directing strangers to the FBO. Then, when I finally found the FBO, it had no signs to let me know I was there.

It was not a large airport, but large enough to have regular airline service. I have airlined in and out of there myself. This time, however, I was going to meet a friend (in an orange Cessna 210, if you can imagine that) so I sought the FBO. It was no easy hunt.

As I approached the airport, there were several signs directing me to the terminal but no signage for general aviation. I finally decided to just follow the terminal signs in hopes of seeing a general aviation sign somewhere along the way. I drove past rental car signs, various parking signs, and airline signs, but no signs to general aviation. I drove all the way through the entire terminal area and was actually almost back to the highway when I finally found one general aviation sign. Eureka!

You have to have faith in that one sign. There were no more. Well, thought I, as I drove down the winding road, one of these hangars will have a huge sign on the outside wall. Wrong again. Finally, I found a parking area between two hangars. There were no hints that this was the right place except that there were cars parked there. I parked, then realized there were two hangar entrances. At first, I went to the wrong one, just because it did show some signs calling it a flight school. I asked someone how to find the FBO and they directed me to a set of stairs on the other side of the parking lot.

In this age of fanatical security, I would have been nervous about using that entrance. It just did not seem like a place that would welcome the public. Inside, however, I found a very nice FBO—well furnished and staffed by what appeared to be a very professional staff on the line and behind the counter.

Airside, the signage was good. Streetside? Pitiful. That’s been going on for years all over the country, and I don’t understand it. FBOs often tell me that all their customers come in airside, not streetside. Maybe so, but most people who can fly in are picked up by local people. Aren’t they important?

I will not disclose the airport or FBO, but if one of them contacts me I will confirm or deny.

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… general aviation groups have been clamoring for cheaper, broader access. A former U.S. Air Force base, Austin-Bergstrom replaced Robert Mueller Airport as the city’s aviation gateway. When ABIA opened, Mueller was closed. To heighten the impact on GA, the Austin Executive Airport to the north of the city was gobbled up by Dell – at virtually the same time. Since then, initiatives to build a new GA reliever near downtown Austin have been quelled by various neighborhood groups.

This week the Austin Airport Advisory Commission’s GA Subcommittee met to further examine how it might address the concerns of owners of light aircraft. Jay Carpenter of the Texas Aviation Association (TAA), formed by frustrated pilots after Mueller’s closure, says that what ABIA needs is more FBO competition to bring prices down and afford more light aircraft access. The competition card may be at best questionable – Austin-Bergstrom, built for $800 million, is a thoroughly modern facility with associated costs. It has two FBOs, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, which provide top-level facilities.

It is interesting that ABIA has no avionics or maintenance services to speak of, which is another complaint of GA groups. TAA charges that the city, the airport sponsor, intentionally keeps its rates and charges high to discourage smaller companies to become tenants. It is curious, considering that Austin is one of the tech capitals of the U.S.

(It should be noted that while both NBAA and AOPA were on the printed agenda, neither was present.)

Dan Sullivan of the Austin Chamber of Commerce supports more GA access and another GA airport. He says it’s good for business. He cited a recent study of tech personnel, in high demand here, that showed that the key need in the region’s workforce is for middle level management. Many of these professionals have to be “imported,” he says. Sullivan points out that these are the same people who are likely to own aircraft or use GA. In fact, he says that they cite ABIA’s limited GA footprint as a negative when considering to relocate.

Enter Ron Henriksen, a 61-year old investor who in the past year opened a private airport, Houston Executive, some 30 miles west of the city. He recently bought the rundown Bird’s Nest Airport, just northeast of Austin, and some 183 acres to offer GA a private alternative. He says he plans to do in Austin what he is already doing in Houston.

Whether or not the City of Austin moves to better accommodate general aviation remains a question. In the meantime, Ron Henriksen may be a leader in what could become a trend – private developers building strong GA relievers. With the state of business aviation being what it is today, it’s becoming a more and more reasonable proposition. Thanks for reading. jfi

The guvmint, folks, has been accused of a cover up. They are allegedly guilty of spending a few million of our—that’s mine and yours—money to fund an aviation safety study, which they then decided to hide and keep secret. Not only that, but it was one of our most visible and sometimes most admired guvmint arms—NASA. Can you believe it?

Remember back when Enron et al were turning belly up and creating a stink? Correct me if I’m wrong, but seems to me many of those corporate big shots went down as much for the cover up as for the original crime. Harken back to the yesteryears of Dick Nixon and Bill Clinton. Doesn’t it seem that everyone in guvmint would know by now that hiding secrets is a big no-no with the American public? Do we so quickly forget Nixon’s “I am not a crook” and Clinton’s “I did not have…with that woman”?

Evidently the guvmint thought releasing the survey might risk “upsetting air travelers.” As a senior NASA official, Thomas S. Luedtke, was quoted in the same AP report, “revealing the findings could damage the public’s confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies…”

In other words, the guvmint has once again assumed that they, not we, know best what is good for us, the ignorant saps who pay their salaries. To paraphrase the great bard of Avon, a pox on their house.

All of this assumes, of course, that the info is true. So far, it is only alleged and reported.

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I saw something last week that I’d love to export to every airport in the country.

The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Greenville, South Carolina, held an event for CEOs and presidents of local small businesses. They engaged me to speak, and they were a great group.

But that’s not the story. The first thing that floored me was the event was held in a hangar of Greenville Jet Center, an FBO at Greenville Downtown. Owner Hank Brown offered the hangar at no charge at all, but the Jet Center gained great exposure to small business leaders, who could be their best customers.

But that’s not all.

A charter company, SATSair, gave free demo rides of the local area before the evening event. Think of the impact. They introduced their services to the top movers and shakers of small businesses. Brilliant. They also had a demo airplane in the hangar, and company VP Phil Quist and marketing person Sheldon Early were on hand to explain everything.

SATSair is an interesting company. They fly charter in a fleet of Cirrus SR22 aircraft and seem to be doing a lot of revenue flying.

With this kind of promotion, I can see why.

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… was put into service in late August by North American Jet. According to NAJ president Kenneth D. Ross, the response by the local market has been quite strong.

North American Jet is a charter management company that has a fleet that includes Lear 35s, a King Air 90, and a Cessna Sovereign and has an additional base in Aspen, CO. It is based at Chicago Executive Airport (PWK), historically known as Palwaukee Municipal and located some eight nautical miles north of O’Hare International.

Ross is quick to point out that, yes, NAJ was the first charter operator to put a very light jet – the Eclipse 500 – into air taxi service. It was not Linear Air of Massachusetts or DayJet of Florida, which both have gotten quite a bit of press on the subject. (You can tell that he gets a bit of satisfaction from that point, evidenced by the wry smile.)

According to Ross, the target audience that’s shaking out for VLJ air taxi service is made up of professionals in middle management, as well as attorneys and doctors, among others. The company expects to have three Eclipse 500s in service by year-end, and another three units by February 2008. NAJ doesn’t own any of its charter fleet, instead utilizing the aircraft via its aircraft management program. All company flights are flown under FAR Part 135, he emphasizes, even those flown for the corporate owners.

Unlike the DayJet model which will have different pricing schemes based on when customers want to fly (peak versus non-peak times), North American Jet will offer fixed rates. It also has established a ‘Q Service’ membership loyalty program that offers a reduced fixed rate for VLJ customers.

Ross says that he has received quite a few resumes/inquiries from pilots interested in flying the VLJs for NAJ. “You know pilots and anything new,” he says. The company initially is using two pilots for the Eclipse 500 flights.

Look for more on North American Jet’s program in the upcoming November/December print edition of AIRPORT BUSINESS.

Thanks for reading. jfi

… has airport directors at many mid-sized markets paying attention. A few weeks back, I heard ExpressJet CEO Jim Ream address airports at AAAE’s annual F. Russell Hoyt National Airports Conference in Tucson. Last week, I got to fly ExpressJet direct from Austin to Kansas City, site of ACI-NA’s annual convention. When you live in a market like Austin, you come to rely on regional jets, which is all ExpressJet flies (all Embraers). The flights were on time – outbound was full; inbound was perhaps 30 percent, indicating there may still be some marketing to be done.

Ream is entertaining, and says he usually shuns such keynote opportunities because he likes to tell it like it is. Since Tucson is one of his key markets to date, it’s likely his appearance was more a nod of appreciation to Tucson Airport Authority president/CEO Bonnie Allin, A.A.E. and her team.

But this was his audience. While the NAC attracts airports of all sizes, it always seems to carry an atmosphere of mainstream – getting to the core issues facing the average airport director. Because of this, it is easily one of the best annual meetings in the industry. At the heart of NAC is the industry itself.

Ream says he remains a supporter of the hub-and-spoke system. His company, which grew out of Continental Express, still flies routes for Continental and Delta. Yet, it’s the point-to-point service opportunities between medium markets that is a key focus, he says. “We don’t have too many seats in any particular city,” he says, though Kansas City is a “focus city”, which suggests a long-term model that could emulate a component of Frontier.

He says the crews, in particular, like the point-to-point routing versus dealing with hubs. “Suddenly, they’re happy,” he says, because the aircraft are continually moving. Ream tells airports that ExpressJet offers an opportunity for fuller gate utilization, even if it is only one gate.

On the subject of airport managers specifically, he comments: “I’ve got plenty of things I [lose] sleep over; how the airport is run isn’t one of them.”

Besides direct service, low fares, and free XM Radio on flights, Ream likes to focus on things the customers appreciate. He negotiated with a Napa Valley vintner for a custom wine that he can offer at $3 a glass. But his crowning achievement may be with the mainstream drinker – “I’m the inventor of a buck a beer,” he boasts.

Thanks for reading. jfi

Since magic has been a hobby of mine for years, friends email me videos of some great magic acts. This week, someone sent a video of a wonderful magician named Criss Angel. In this video, Criss appeared to pass his entire body through a solid pane of glass in a picture window. The question, of course, is how’d he do that?

I watched the man walk through that glass four or five times before I remembered that a famous magician of another century had done a stage version of that trick. I read an explanation of that trick back in the 1960s. He was doing it on stage, Criss did it with a storefront window on a city street, but the technique was the same.

Isn’t that the way it goes in business? When two people see the same new tool for business one person cannot see how it will help his/her business, another person grasps it immediately. Chances are the person who grasps it has experience the first person doesn’t have.

This has been particularly evident as computers have been introduced to business in the last few decades. Many of us learned the basics, but never imagined the many other business advantages attainable with computers. Quite often, the difference was in past experience. Those who had experience in direct marketing for example, were probably the first to see how the computer could improve that industry. Certainly the people who grasped what the computer could do for aviation navigation were those who were already working with navigation systems.

Another example of this is the spreading use of composite materials in aviation. A few decades ago, many people could explain why composites wouldn’t work in aviation. Today many—from Boeing to homebuilders—are proving them wrong.

When a new idea is introduced, try to look at it within your own area of experience, and try to get others to help you look at it from their area of experience. And try to imagine how it could solve old problems and open new opportunities.

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