 | The News-Press (Fort Myers, FL)
PrivateSky Aviation Grows
Jul 23, 2010
Laura RuanePrivateSky Aviation Services in Fort Myers has expanded its core business niche.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently certified the company to repair and maintain Gulfstream G550 jets. That means PrivateSky now can perform service work on all the large-cabin models in the Gulfstream fleet.
It matters because the G550s "are just coming off manufacturer warranties," said Vincent Wolanin, PrivateSky founder and CEO.
Such opportunities are important, but even more so during the current economic storm.
Business aviation has decreased by as much as 35 percent in the past year, according to Ed Bolen, chief executive for the National Business Aviation Association. He discussed general aviation and the recession during July 14 testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Small Business.
PrivateSky, based at Southwest Florida International Airport, bills itself as "the Gulfstream experts," repairing, maintaining and refurbishing the GII, GIIB, GIII, GIV and GV - which includes the G550 - models.
Since the expanded certification, the company has done "a bunch of scheduled maintenance for a G550 based in Hong Kong," Wolanin said. Some of the work was done off-site; some in Fort Myers, Wolanin said.
The Gulfstream G550, also known as the Gulfstream V-SP, can fly as far as 7,500 miles nonstop. That's more than the distance between New York City and Tokyo.
Using these long-haul planes can make a business operate more efficiently in a global economy, Bolen said in a phone interview with The News-Press.
It can be especially important in cultivating business in the so-called BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China, Bolen said. For example, "everybody knows about Beijing and Shanghai, but there are many other major cities in China where there isn't a lot of airline service," Bolen said.
PrivateSky grew out of a merger with JetSouth, the former fixed-base operator owned by Dr. John Kagan and his wife, Elizabeth.
Wolanin, who built an Albany, N.Y.-based business specializing in commercial development, got into aircraft repair after buying his first plane - a Gulfstream - in the early 1990s. "I got a repair bill: It was quite high."
In 2003 PrivateSky debuted its bright-yellow building on Southwest Florida International's north side.
Wolanin wouldn't say how many people he employs, but added: "We're actively hiring."
Most of the jobs require multiple technical skills. Wolanin estimated 95 percent of his employees formerly worked for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., including four of his chief mechanics.
The company has an aircraft repair hangar that's more than 40,000 square feet. When necessary, PrivateSky will dispatch crews to such far-flung places as Europe, South Africa and South America to repair or maintain aircraft for established customers.
|  | NBAA's Bolen on Fox Business Network  Click here to see Ed Bolen, President and CEO of NBAA, in an interview on Fox Business Network NBAA's Bolen on DC's Newschannel 8  In an interview with Newschannel 8, Bolen explains that "... business aviation is prudent, cost-effective, and oftentimes, the only way to get where you're going." |
