Aero Star Aviation Builds a Legacy on Embraer Bizjets

Beginning his business with a little bit of cash on hand and a credit card with a 0% interest rate, Aero Star Aviation founder and president Christopher Grinnell embarked on his vision of building a maintenance, repair, and overhaul shop specializing in Embraer business jets in a rented hangar at Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD). 

Just a little more than a decade later, Grinnell’s business has moved to a rapidly expanding footprint at Dallas Love Field (KDAL), encompassing four hangars formerly occupied by companies such as Gulfstream Aerospace and Elliott Aviation that span more than 100,000 sq ft of space. Aero Star employs nearly 100 people, runs four shifts around-the-clock with plans for a fifth, and has a backlog of work from companies such as NetJets, Wheels Up, and a multitude of individual owners. And as Aero Star continues to raise its profile, it is exhibiting for the first time at the 2026 NBAA-BACE.

This was a business largely built by word of mouth, and importantly to Grinnell, through relationships. “What I love about aviation is how it is camaraderie- and relationship-driven. There are not many industries that are like aviation,” he said. “And the biggest thing is service.” His vision was not to serve as a director of maintenance but as a partner in a customer’s flight operations that makes the experience overall better.

Grinnell formed Aero Star Aviation in 2014 but didn’t begin operations until 2015. “I started a company because I had in mind that I wanted to do it," he told AIN. "And then I didn't really get the nerve until a year later to quit my job. I was very nervous about doing it, and then I just woke up one day, and I said, ‘I'm 27. If I'm going to do it, now's the time.’”

He quickly learned about the expense of such a business; Grinnell had about $23,000 in cash saved up, opened a credit card with an $18,000 line, and immediately was overextended on the first client. “We were doing a big inspection, and I didn’t want the customer to feel like he was taking a risk on us. So, I never asked for a deposit. I financed it all myself. And then, I even gave him terms,” he said, doing all this because he understood, “It’s really risky for people to take a chance on people. I didn't want him to have that fear that he was putting his aircraft, a Phenom 300, in the hands of a kid. And I was risking it.”

Grinnell had rented a hangar for a month to begin that business, doing the majority of the work himself with a few contractors who had, in turn, extended terms to him. After that first inspection at Redbird, he rented an office at Love Field in a Signature terminal, which was the former Dalfort facility. 

Phenom Experience

From there, because he had Embraer experience, he connected with JetSuite, which was operating Embraer Phenoms. And Aero Star became an approved vendor for NetJets, which was building its own fleet of Phenom 300s, as well as a support provider for Airshare. 

Grinnell brought a strong background in the Phenom lines. While formerly with West Star Aviation, he was assigned to the first Phenom that was delivered, a 100 that was purchased by Jim and Betsy Frost. As such, he learned support of the still-nascent line while Embraer also gained experience on the very light jet.  It provided Grinnell insight that few had. “I give credit to Embraer and the engineers in Brazil because they trained me to be a better mechanic over the phone. We’d have aircraft in the U.S., and I’d ask, ‘How do we fix this?’ and we're learning it together.”

Aero Star moved into its current facility, formerly a Gulfstream Aerospace and then RBR location, in 2023, and then took over a large hangar vacated by Elliott Aviation next door. This provided hangar space adjacent to Runway 13L/31R at KDAL. Eventually, another hangar became available next to that, which was also formerly occupied by JSX. Grinnell ultimately was able to take over four hangars, and along with it some 60,000 sq ft of office space. Each one has either undergone or is undergoing renovation. 

Noting that’s more office space than needed, he said one such renovation will involve adding a gym. He stressed the importance of making Aero Star an attractive place to work, especially given the competitive workforce environment in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Many of the new hires come with military experience, and then Aero Star helps sponsor them to obtain an A&P certificate.

 To capture institutional knowledge that Aero Star has been building, Grinnell has introduced an AI tool, Ava (Aero Star virtual assistant), which combines all the data it has in its Corridor MRO management software system. Technicians have the ability to access that information as they work on their projects.

As for capabilities, they continue to grow as well. The FAA Part 145 and Mexican AFAC-approved repair station has expanded its aircraft portfolio alongside Embraer’s growing lineup of next models, adding the Praetors. But Grinnell is also beginning to extend capabilities for the Textron Aviation Cessna Citation Latitude, finding that a natural progression for some of the Phenom owners. It is further beginning to develop its own component repair specs and building on parts manufacturer approvals as parts have become difficult to secure.  In addition, Aero Star is busy with prebuy inspections and consultant work, he noted.

While much of his time is spent on managing this growing array of work, Grinnell still likes to take time to get involved on the maintenance side. “I still try to work on airplanes when I can,” he concluded. I enjoy it because it is something I know.”