Story ID: 305
Pentastar Aviation FBO Approaching Diamond Anniversary
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Edsel Ford opens up on what's worked, and what has not in Pentastar's business plan
Word Count: 968
Edsel Ford II, the great-grandson of automobile innovator Henry Ford, fell in love with corporate aviation at an early age, relishing the occasional trip with his father on Ford Motor Company flight department aircraft. After working as an executive for the family business for several decades and stepping down from its board of directors in 2001, Ford heard rumors that fellow automaker Daimler Chrysler was looking to sell its FBO at Detroit-area Oakland County International Airport (KPTK).Though the rumors also indicated that there was already an interested buyer, Ford contacted the company and found that Daimler Chrysler’s v-p of strategy was a former Ford employee with whom he had worked. “I called him up and said, 'I’m interested,'” Ford told AIN. “He knew me, I knew him, and he was going to give me a fair price. There were very few issues and we closed pretty quickly.” He then restored the name Pentastar Aviation, which the FBO had used before the Daimler-Chrysler merger.Ford acquired the company during the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but he noted that any decline in business did not last long. Daimler Chrysler—a multinational business with offices in Detroit and Stuttgart, Germany—ran Airbus shuttles several times a week between the U.S. and Germany, and Pentastar continued to handle them, providing fuel and catering.To provision these large aircraft, Ford decided to bring catering production in-house. Thus was born the Five Star Café, a restaurant-sized kitchen in the terminal staffed with chefs capable of preparing virtually anything a customer might request. It has since become so popular that it not only serves the sizable traffic at KPTK—it now delivers catering orders to other area airports as well. A daily menu is available to the FBO staff and other airport workers.Having its own catering facility helps make Pentastar a one-stop shop for aviation customers. It offers maintenance, completions, and refurbishment services, as well as a robust aircraft charter and management division. The complex also includes the Stargate, a separate large aircraft charter terminal with its own baggage carousel and what is believed to be the only privately operated jetway in the country.Established in 1964 as Chrysler's flight department, Pentastar Aviation celebrates its diamond anniversary next year. It began offering full FBO services, including transient fuel and handling, in November of 1983 at the Willow Run Airport (KYIP) near Detroit through the acquisition of an FBO then known as Willow Run Services.The company relocated the operation to KPTK in 1990, and in the ensuing years, it has become a favorite among pilots in the annual AIN FBO Survey, having earned the highest overall score in the world for the past three years. That response is not surprising, as the company has run its own internal customer satisfaction survey for years.“If there is any doubt [Ford] takes this seriously, if we get one [survey] in and there is negative feedback, we’re talking to the customer within 24 hours,” said Pentastar president and CEO Greg Schmidt. “I can guarantee we’re talking to Edsel before that.” A hands-on owner, Ford has been known to call customers to resolve any problems with the FBO. “We are just possessed with customer satisfaction, and it goes up and down my entire organization,” he said. “It’s either going to make us or break us.”Attention to customer service extends not just to the pilots and passengers who transit the terminal, but even to directors of maintenance (DoM) who visit the facility to oversee major repairs or overhauls.“When a DoM comes to Pentastar, is he or she happy when they leave? Are they out on time? Are they out on budget? Has everything been done according to what they want?” said Ford. “And when they’re here, what can we do for them? They don’t want to be sitting in the FBO all day long, so we try to put together programs for them. It’s all part of this big customer satisfaction and it’s all facets of our business that we spend an enormous amount of energy on.”There are other factors that help make the facility stand out, like the fact that cleaning and upkeep has been done by the same family for a quarter century, and they take great pride in its appearance.Ford has learned some lessons along the way, not all of them positive. Shortly after he purchased the company, he partnered on an expansion to Los Angeles-area Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), an experience he later described as a nightmare. Among the low points was a labor action filed against the company over giving employees company cell phones, which was interpreted under California law as overtime. After several years, the partnership dissolved and Pentastar left the West Coast.“As I look back, the location wasn’t that great, either," Ford said. "We were at one end of the field and the building wasn’t very good. So, I have made some not-right decisions.”That chapter made Ford rethink any future expansion plans. “We will look at other locations in Michigan because we can do Michigan," he said, "but we will not look elsewhere. We know it doesn’t work for us.”Having now owned the company for more than two decades, Ford still maintains his passion for the industry. In this era of FBO industry consolidation, the highly regarded FBO is certainly being watched closely, but Ford has no intention of selling Pentastar despite the occasional offer. A spry septuagenarian, he plans on keeping it in the family. “I figure I’ve probably got a good 10 years or so, and my son Calvin likes it here, so I think this could last forever,” Ford said. “People know I don’t need to sell.”, plain_text