Sweet Aviation Aims To ‘Always Do the Right Thing’

More than three years ago, Sweet Aviation took over the lone FBO at Indiana’s Fort Wayne-area DeKalb County Airport (KGWB). The airport authority had issued an RFP in 2022 after the existing service provider declined to pursue a lease renewal, and Sweet was selected.

The company, a sister to Enstrom Helicopters and Aviation Specialty Insurance, is a large aviation player in the Fort Wayne area, offering aircraft charter, maintenance, rental, and flight training. Sweet also operates the FBO at nearby Goshen Municipal Airport (KGSH).

At KGWB, Sweet moved into the existing FBO facility, which included 10,000 sq ft of space in the airport’s terminal. The building also houses the airport authority offices. “I say the airport owns the buildings, they take care of the runway, and we’re the customer-facing side of it,” said Scotty Hepler, who manages the FBOs at both airports. “When they walk into the terminal, they don’t see the airport authority; they see us.”

The terminal at DeKalb dates back more than half a century, but it has been regularly updated by the airport, with the next update slated for over the next two years. Among its amenities are a passenger lobby, pilot lounge with snooze room and showers, 16-seat conference room, kitchen, dishwashing and laundry facilities, a flight planning area, and a business center.

Rental cars can be delivered to the terminal from Enterprise, but the FBO has a trio of crew cars available to customers for free day use, or even overnight for a fee.

The facility has an adjoining 27,000-sq-ft hangar, which can accommodate up to super-midsize jets. It is home to eight business jets. In addition, an aeromedical provider based there has two helicopters: an Airbus AS365 and a Leonardo AW169. The complex also has an 11,000-sq-ft maintenance hangar, and between the two, Hepler said, there is usually room to shelter a transient aircraft if needed.

An Avfuel-branded dealer, Sweet operates the airport’s fuel farm, which holds 24,000 gallons of jet-A and half that amount of avgas. It is served by a 5,000-gallon jet refueler and a 1,000-gallon avgas truck operated by the location’s hybrid customer line technicians, who also run the customer service desk. According to Hepler, the location sees more than 2,000 fueling events a year and pumps around 200,000 gallons annually.

Open every day from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. for most of the year, the FBO, which has a staff of nine, closes two hours earlier in the winter. After-hours call-out is available for a fee.

Asked about his customer service philosophy, Hepler noted, “Our circle of things is wowing the customer, obsessing over the details, driving continuous improvement, getting things done, and at the center of it is do the right thing.”

While none of the major aviation caterers are available within range of KGWB, Sweet Aviation’s go-to is a local establishment, the Deli on Sixth and Main, for both in-flight and on-the-ground customer meals. “There hasn’t been anything yet that I have asked them for that they haven’t been able to do,” explained Hepler.

While the facility sees a mix of aircraft operators, the area’s steel manufacturing industry helps drive both transient and field-based aircraft. As well, explained Hepler, in Auburn, automobiles can also push aircraft. The city is home to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, highlighting what many believe was the most stylish car ever made in the U.S. In addition to the regular attendance among those who view the brand as the apex of automobiles from a century ago, every summer the museum holds a festival that serves as a gathering of owners of these multi-million-dollar vehicles, many of whom ship the cars to Auburn and fly in on their private aircraft. Held later in the year, the Annual Auburn Auction & Show is one of the most prestigious car sales events in the world, with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of vehicles changing hands.

The airport authority has several projects lined up at KGWB. Following the extension of KGWB’s runway from 5,000 feet to 7,105 feet, which hampered operations on the field for four months back in 2023, on tap is a complete refurbishment of the older part of the runway, followed by the taxiways. Planned as well is a new T-hangar complex.