Atlantic Aviation's Revenues Are Up
As Three Million Air FBOs Transition

It's not news that aerospace industry profits are down since 9/11. What is news is that Atlantic Aviation's revenue has increased by about 25% in the past year.

"The events of 9/11 most assuredly affected this industry," says Louis Pepper, CEO of Atlantic Aviation. "Atlantic Aviation, however, has experienced strong growth since then."

Pepper credits Atlantic's growth and success to the increased level of service and commitment to customer satisfaction that has been the primary goal of his management team since it acquired Atlantic from Legg Mason in December 2000.

"Atlantic is positioning itself for growth and future expansion," he says. "We have identified key markets where we will make strategic acquisitions that will allow us to offer more location choices to our customers."

As part of the company's long-term strategy, Executive Air Support -- the parent company of Atlantic Aviation -- reached agreement earlier this summer with Roger Woolsey, owner of the Million Air Houston (Hobby) franchise, to sell Million Air Interlink, the EAS's franchise company that held the Million Air name.

Related to that handover of the Million Air franchise name, the three EAS FBOs that operated as Million Air facilities changed over to the Atlantic Aviation banner. So the FBOs in Bridgeport and Hartford, Conn., as well as Long Island, N.Y., became part of Atlantic Aviation's operations. That brings the total number of Atlantic locations to eight, including Teterboro, Philadelphia International, Northeast Philadelphia, Houston (also Hobby) and Midway.

"These three FBOs, along with the recently initiated multi-million dollar improvement program at other Atlantic locations, demonstrates our commitment to provide unparalleled service in the industry," says Pepper, who added that the decision to transition the Bridgeport, Hartford and Long Island locations enables Atlantic Aviation to expand the company's quality-service programs to customers in key markets in a more cohesive manner.

"We have an experienced management team in place with a reputation for ensuring that our customers, and that includes the passengers as well as the pilots, receive a consistent level of quality service at any and all of our locations," he says.

In other news, Atlantic Aviation has expanded its Flight Services Division charter fleet with the addition of four aircraft: a Challenger 601-1A based at Wilmington, Del.; a Falcon 900-A based at Teterboro; and a pair of Challenger 601-3As based at Newark and at Trenton, N.J.

Atlantic Aviation manages and operates 22 turbine-powered aircraft from its Flight Services Division headquarters at Teterboro.

"The addition of these four aircraft enables us to service the increasing demand for larger-cabin type aircraft in the northeast marketplace," said Atlantic Aviation Flight Services sales and marketing vp Larry Dean.

Along with those additions, AAFS has completed FAA certification of a Lear 35A to meet RVSM requirements. This is one of the first Lear aircraft to achieve this certification. The aircraft is based at White Plains, N.Y.

By Barry Rosenberg