Signature Flight Support has steadily stuck to its strategy since its founding
in 1992 and has grown to become the largest multiple-base FBO company in the world. The chain’s beginnings lay in the merger of Butler Aviation and Page Avjet, and it is owned by publicly traded BBA Group of the UK.
Airports, Heliports and FBOs
New developments at airports and heliports, including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers of FBOs; AIN’s Annual FBO Survey Reports; and news, issues and concerns regarding fuel cards, fuel prices and alternative fuels.
September 20, 2006 - 4:56am
September 20, 2006 - 4:55am
“Without a doubt, DuPage Airport [DPA] is the premier corporate aviation airport in the Midwest–both land and air side,” David Bird, executive director of the DuPage Airport Authority (DAA) in West Chicago, told AIN. “It’s not idle boasting; we can facilitate air traffic and still be a good neighbor in the community. Those are two key ingredients in the success of any airport.”
September 20, 2006 - 4:49am
Orlando Executive Airport FBO and Phillips 66 dealer Showalter Flying Service is 60 years old this year and held a huge hangar party in April to celebrate the occasion. Founded by brothers Howard and Sandy Showalter and Buck Rogers, the FBO remains a family operation, now run by Bob, who is Howard’s son, with his wife Kim and children Jenny and Sandy.
September 20, 2006 - 4:46am
Another aviation association is forming, this time to serve FBOs with three or fewer facilities. The Independent Fixed Base Operators Association (IFBOA) is the brainchild of John Wraga Jr., president and CEO of the Cambridge Group of Bedford, Mass. “I visit a lot of small FBOs,” said Wraga. “They all had the idea. They need an association that can support them.”
September 20, 2006 - 4:46am
ConocoPhillips has redesigned its Web site to help pilots find Phillips 66 FBOs and allow FBOs to take advantage of new technology. For FBOs, Conoco-Phillips offers the new WebSmart 66 service, which allows FBOs to create their own Web site hosted on the Phillips system.
September 20, 2006 - 4:45am
Million Air franchise Regent Aviation in Saint Paul, Minn., bought Rochester Aviation at Minnesota Rochester International Airport and renamed the FBO Regent Aviation. Steve Birdseye is general manager of the new Regent Aviation FBO in Rochester.
September 20, 2006 - 4:44am
FBO chain Trajen has purchased three more FBOs, bringing its total to 22 facilities. Trajen bought the three FBOs–located at Palwaukee Airport in Wheeling, Ill., and in Waukesha and Kenosha, Wis.–from North American Jet. The Kenosha facility is primarily a satellite maintenance base, according to Donald Prescott, vice president for strategic planning and corporate development.
September 20, 2006 - 4:42am
The passenger facilities at Canada’s Montréal-Mirabel International Airport are candidates for a $C100 million ($87 million) transformation into an “indoor recreational multiplex” called Rêveport (AeroDream in English), according to Aéroports de Montréal.
September 20, 2006 - 4:40am
On May 1, Signature Flight Support opened the first purpose-built business aviation center at Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster/Sheffield, UK. The airport is a former military airfield, RAF Finningley. Signature Flight Support Doncaster is the company’s 20th European FBO. In addition to traditional FBO services, the facility will offer customs, immigration and Special Branch assistance, plus slot acquisition.
September 20, 2006 - 4:39am
As of May 1, the former Island Aviation FBO at Merritt Island Airport in Florida reopened as the second FBO owned by Atlas Aviation. Atlas’s first FBO is located at Peter O. Knight Airport in Tampa, Fla. Atlas plans to continue improving the hangar, lobby and office facilities at Merritt Island while offering visiting pilots and local operators fuel, maintenance, storage and office rental.
