FBO Profile: Nebraska's Blue Line Aviation Gets New Life

Despite learning how to fly before he could drive a car, operating an FBO was not a career choice for Kyle Gress, owner of Blue Line Aviation, the lone service provider at Nebraska City Municipal Airport (KAFK).

A Nebraska native, Gress’ father owned a Piper Saratoga and a Piper Cherokee, which he flew from an unpaved landing strip on the family farm in Nebraska City. When KAFK opened down the road in 1994, the younger Gress was the first pilot to solo there, and the family relocated its aircraft onto the airfield.

Kyle went on to establish a career in law enforcement, serving on the Nebraska State Police Patrol in various roles, including aviation, SWAT, executive protection, and bomb disposal, and earning a commercial pilot license along the way. In addition to helping out with farming duties, he considered establishing an aerial application business and bought an Air Tractor 402.

But when KAFK’s FBO operator ran afoul of FAA regulations on using airport infrastructure solely for aeronautical purposes and was removed, Gress was asked if he would consider taking over the operation. “I said, ‘Absolutely not,’” he told AIN, noting that after the passing of his father, he had also taken over running the farm. “But I told them I want this place to be something, at least what it used to be. So, I told them I’d help try to find somebody.” 

When that search only turned up associates of the former FBO operator, Gress reluctantly decided to toss his name in the ring. “They said, 'You’re it.'  That’s how it started for me.”

Gress found that the 1,350-sq-ft terminal (originally a T-hangar) had been stripped by its former operator, leaving little but bare walls. He and his wife—who also serves in law enforcement—got to work restoring it into a small, but functional, cozy terminal. “It looks really nice,” said Gress. “People walk in here, and they’re like, ‘Oh, wow, we weren’t expecting this in the middle of a cornfield in nowhere Nebraska.’ We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.”

One notable feature in the lobby is the Pop-Tarts bar, with several varieties of the breakfast treat on hand at all times, along with ice cream, other snacks, and beverages. Gress is renovating the kitchen and installing a pizza oven so guests can help themselves to frozen pizzas as well. Among the amenities are a crew car and a pilot lounge with shower facilities. Private car rental is also available.

Last year, the Titan Aviation Fuels-branded airport upgraded its fuel farm via a $1.3 million grant. It now holds 15,000 gallons of jet-A and 10,000 gallons of avgas and offers a self-serve option. The FBO has a 2,300-gallon jet fuel truck and a 1,300-gallon avgas refueler. The airport also has two large-capacity fuel trailers that get pulled into service during anticipated peak periods. Last year, the FBO pumped 150,000 gallons of jet fuel and is on a pace to smash that total.

“When I took over, this place was, I would say, 98% local traffic, only small stuff,” Gress explained, adding that the airport averages more than 400 operations a month. “We now are for sure 98% or more transient traffic, and it’s turboprops and jets. It’s completely flip-flopped, and they come from coast to coast daily.”

One thing that Gress has maintained since he took over the FBO five years ago is low fuel prices. “It’s just kind of my way of giving back,” he told AIN. “My intent is always to have low fuel prices, so my margins are very, very small. I don’t have to live off of [profit from fuel sales] like most people do.”

That has helped put KAFK and Blue Line on the map for pilots traversing the country. “We’ve kind of made it our slogan,” said Gress. “Just a perfect mid-continent stop for fuel, because that’s really what we’ve become known for—that and, for some reason, the Pop-Tart bar.”

Continuing with that focus on customer friendliness, the FBO doesn’t charge any ramp fees, parking fees, or even after-hours call-out fees. As a CAA-preferred FBO, Gress recalled a recent situation where a turboprop pilot notified him that he would be arriving late and would require fueling. When the customer inquired if he would get the CAA fuel discount, Gress replied that the self-serve payment system couldn’t give the discount. Instead, he waited at the facility until the aircraft arrived to fuel it manually and give the pilot the adjusted price.

The facility—open weekdays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., and weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.—also offers a 10,000-sq-ft hangar that can accommodate up to super-midsize business jets. It has nearly two acres of ramp, which will more than double next year as part of a more than $4 million airport improvement project that will also pave the parallel taxiway to 4,500-foot Runway 33/15, and add new lighting to replace the field’s aging system.

“One of the big things about this apron expansion is it is going to give us a whole bunch of room for corporate hangars to be built,” Gress stated. “That will now put concrete out there for them to build up to and will give us a whole lot more capacity.”

The airport has applied for more federal grants, which could result in the construction of a new terminal and larger hangar, and possibly a runway extension for 33/15 to bump it out to 5,000 feet. “There’s a lot of things in the works,” added Gress. “It’s exciting.”

“Things happen for a reason,” concluded the once-reluctant FBO operator. “It wasn’t really the path that I was anticipating; it just kind of happened, but I’m so glad it did because it’s just turned out to be such a great thing.”