Teterboro-based charter/management company Meridian (Booth N4925) arrives at NBAA in the midst of its West Coast expansion, having broken ground in July on an FBO and hangar facility at Hayward Executive Airport near San Francisco.
“The grand opening is slated for August 1,” said Ken Forester, Jr., Meridian CEO. “We think there will be a very good synergy between our two operations.” The facility, constructed by Tectonic Design, will include a 6,300-sq-ft FBO and offices, a 30,000-sq-ft hangar and a 3.5-acre ramp. The hangar will accommodate aircraft as large as the Global Express and Gulfstream G650. As at its TEB facility, Meridian will provide charter/management services, a Part 145 repair station and aircraft detailing at Hayward.
Meridian has a 50-year lease on the property, and the construction is the first part of a multi-phase development plan, with an initial commitment of $10 million. A second 12,000-sq-ft terminal, two 40,000-sq-ft hangars and an additional seven acres of ramp space will be added in five to ten years, “depending on how the business evolves,” Forester said.
Meridian also recently completed the refurbishment of a Hayward-based Citation XLS with new paint and interior, including Gogo Biz Wi-Fi and Inmarsat satellite phone system. Since last year’s convention the company has also added two Challenger 605s and a Falcon 2000 EX EASy to its fleet of more than 20 aircraft, which includes a Global 5000, Gulfstream G550, GIV-SP and G200, Falcon 900EX EASy and 2000, Challenger 604, 601-3R and 601-3A, Hawker 900XP, 800XP and 800SP and Citation XLS, VII and Mustang.
The company has several super-midsize jets “in the pipeline,” Forester said, and the fleet “should be growing significantly on the East Coast and West Coast in the next few months.”
Meridian has hired two additional charter sales staffers, one based in Los Angeles and one in Austin, Texas, in anticipation of the increased activity the new facility and growing fleet are expected to generate. The company also has charter sales offices at San Jose International Airport and Sonoma County Airport. Forester noted the company had “just sent our G550 around the world on fairly short notice,” demonstrating its ability to support its management and charter clients, wherever and whenever they need.
Meridian has also enhanced its digital presence, adding in September its first video, highlighting the company’s full service capabilities, to the website it relaunched last year. Among other improvements, the redesigned website includes a translation tool that makes it more “international friendly,” Forester said.
Here at the show members of Meridian’s East Coast and new West Coast teams are hosting attendees in its new booth, which debuted last year, and are eager to talk to owners, chief pilots or others about the company’s management capabilities.
Meanwhile work continues on a new 40,000-sq-ft hangar at the company’s Teterboro base, with completion scheduled for December of next year. The Teterboro repair facility is both FAA and EASA certified, and is a Honeywell-authorized TFE731 and -36 series APU service center. The facility is also a Northeast Honeywell avionics and mechanical parts depot, and technicians are certified to work on Beechjets, Challengers, Citations, Falcons, Gulfstreams, Hawkers and Learjets.
Looking ahead, Meridian may establish a charter sales office in Miami. Until then, “we’re certainly looking for opportunities as they come up,” Forester said, though the company is intent on keeping expansion under control. “We’re looking to grow in an orderly fashion,” he said.
