As an AIN staff member for nearly two decades, I have accumulated a fair amount of branded “merch” from industry companies—items presented to me after visits or location tours—ranging from custom-designed Lego-style FBO kits to hammocks. Among the most popular giveaways are shirts. I have accumulated a drawer full over the years, and they're adorned with logos or names of companies. But I still remember the first one I was given.
While attending the NBAA White Plains Regional Forum held this week at New York's Westchester County Airport (KHPN), I was taken back to my first NBAA regional event at my “backyard” airport. It was 2007 and I'd joined AIN just a few months earlier.
As I walked the aisles and visited with the scores of exhibitors, I remember speaking with the proprietors of a new FBO in Florida, and then it happened: they asked me my shirt size and handed me a polo shirt with the company’s embroidered logo. I was rather stunned, thinking they had made a mistake in bestowing such a gift on a relative nobody, but they insisted I keep it.
For me, it was the first of many, from OEMs, fleet operators, maintenance providers, fuel companies, even a helicopter shipping specialist, but most of all—given my role covering airports and service providers for the past decade and a half—FBOs.
Among all the segments in the industry, FBOs have become the most transient, and it is somewhat poignant to look back through the collection of shirts I have accumulated over the years and realize that many of those companies simply no longer exist. Certainly, their leaseholds remain at their various airports, and in some cases maybe even the terminals they once occupied. But with the rise of the mega FBO chains and a voracious pack of smaller brands looking to grow their networks—most fueled by private equity money these days—industry consolidation has pushed out many independent FBOs.
Their past pride in their companies is still reflected in the tangible reminders I now possess. That FBO that gave me my first shirt has changed names twice since: first to Landmark Aviation and then again when Landmark was acquired by Signature Aviation.
Some of those FBOs I visited in the course of my duties and recall with fondness; others I never had the opportunity to set foot in. In many cases, I can still recall the names and faces associated with those locations. It is the staff that makes a good FBO, just as much as a new facility with the latest greatest amenities, and a well-trained staff—particularly in this post-Covid landscape—is hard to come by.
Typically, the acquiring company retains most, if not all, of the FBO’s line service technicians and CSRs. But it is the owners and upper executives who usually depart—people I knew for years, whom I would see at shows, and who would not hesitate to talk to me about how industry issues impacted their own businesses.
Years ago, while researching an article on consolidation, an FBO industry executive described the conditions that fueled the sales of independent FBOs, including the “graying” of the industry. Simply put, company founders who, upon reaching retirement age, may find their family is no longer interested in keeping the business, or have other factors leading them to “cash out.”
With strong growth predicted for the private aviation services industry over the next several years, those private equity-backed chains are eager to accommodate them in what is certainly a seller’s market. Indeed, many FBO owners have their exit strategies set.
Whether the new owners provide a better customer experience is a matter of conjecture. But with each departure, I can’t help but feel the industry loses a little uniqueness and wonder if those shirts in my drawer will someday just be reminders of what once was.