In operation as the lone service provider at San Francisco Bay-area Livermore Municipal Airport  (KLVK) since 2016, Five Rivers Aviation might have some customers looking around for the rivers in question. But according to owner Pete Sandhu, the name is a poignant tribute to his family’s heritage. He told AIN that his family emigrated to the U.S. from Punjab, India, in the early 1960s so his father could join the space race as a rocket fuels scientist. Punjab translates to five rivers. His company was selected through the RFP process to take over the aircraft servicing operations from the city-owned GA airport, which had run it for more than a half-century.

The FBO has an 11-acre footprint on the field and features a two-story terminal. The 6,000-sq-ft ground floor serves the flying public, while the Alameda County Sheriff’s aviation department occupies the upper floor. It offers a passenger lounge; concierge; pilot lounge with putting green, showers, and two snooze rooms; A/V-equipped eight-seat conference room and 80-person meeting/training room; onsite car rental; and crew cars. With a golf course next door, the company has loaner clubs and complimentary driving range tokens.

Given KLVK’s proximity to the brainpower of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Silicon Valley, Sandhu said the airport is home to more than 400 aircraft (including more than a dozen vintage warbirds). With one of the highest concentrations of experimental aircraft anywhere, Livermore pilots and aircraft owners are eager to share their love for aviation with fellow pilots and visitors. As a result, hangar space at the airport is at a premium.

Five Rivers previously had four hangars totaling 25,000 sq ft, capable of sheltering aircraft up to a Bombardier Challenger 600 series. The FBO recently added a new complex consisting of a 15,635-sq-ft and a pair of 14,000-sq-ft hangars, which can accommodate the latest ultra-long-range business jets. This was part of a $9 million project that also added 24,000 sq ft of new ramp and the renovation of an additional 2.4 acres of pavement.

The FBO is currently home to 20 turbine-powered aircraft ranging from a Gulfstream G550 to a Cirrus Vision Jet. Sandhu said the new hangars were designed and built with a 30-foot door height, which will be artificially limited to 28 feet with a temporary façade trim. This will be removed when the classification rules designating hangars with more than that height door as Group I hangars (requiring more stringent fire-suppression systems) are relaxed.

Five Rivers is already in negotiations with the city of Livermore on locations for two more corporate hangars, as well as a third location to accommodate the air assets of several public safety agencies looking to base at KLVK because of its favorable weather. “Most people don’t understand how different the weather can be even 10 miles here, we have all these crazy microclimates,” explained Sandhu. While other area airports may be socked in with morning fog, Livermore, known as the "sunny airport," is typically clear, allowing for immediate departures.

The company is also looking to begin construction on a 4,000-sq-ft covered outdoor event center equipped for year-round usage with heaters, misters, fans, lights, and speakers, with a grill and brick oven and large screens for movies and presentations. Sandhu is hoping the center will be operational by this summer and is planning a slate of fly-in movies, pancake breakfasts, and Young Eagles barbecues.

The Avfuel-branded facility, which is open normally every day between 6 a.m and 7 p.m., pumps approximately 1 million gallons of fuel a year from its fuel farm, which has a capacity of 24,000 gallons each of jet-A and avgas. It is served by a trio of jet fuel tankers (6,000, 5,000, and 3,000 gallons) and two 1,000-gallon 100LL avgas trucks, tended by the location’s staff, which was trained through the Avfuel-line service program.

In terms of customer service, Sandhu summarized it as doing whatever it takes. “We want to understand everything that the customer needs and figure out how to make it happen,” he said. That includes using one of the company’s rental Cessna 172s to deliver fuel cans to a stranded helicopter at a small area airport that was out of jet fuel. After manually transferring enough fuel for the hop to KLVK to fully refill, Five Rivers charged the operator just $50 for the fuel.