Story ID: 
Tac Air Sells Greenville Fbo
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: TAC Air sold its FBO location in Greenville, S.C., to Greenville Jet Center.
Word Count: 292
TAC Air sold its FBO location in Greenville, S.C., to Greenville Jet Center. Terms of the sale were not released. Greenville Jet Center has operated on the east side of the airport for the past 20 years, and the TAC Air facilities are on the northwest side. According to a Greenville Jet Center spokeswoman, both FBOs’ facilities will be operated under the Greenville banner. “Everything is going to be run the same,” she said.

According to TAC Air vice president and COO Christian Sasfai, the move reflects a growing trend in FBO services, where “consolidation has become a necessary component of today’s aviation services industry to provide high-quality, low-cost products and services to aircraft owners and operators.” Meanwhile, TAC Air, now with 12 FBOs, said it is pursuing several acquisition opportunities. “We expect to make our first acquisition announcement in early 2011, with more to follow,” he said. 

At Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, where TAC Air owns an FBO, the local airport authority plans to open its own FBO. Sasfai predicts that the airport will be disappointed in the outcome. “Adding a government-subsidized FBO where the free market has already undergone consolidation makes absolutely no sense,” he said. “TAC Air has invested millions of dollars into Chattanooga and provides more than 30 jobs. There is little difference between [Chattanooga] and [Greenville] in that aviation support services can be provided more cost effectively by a single provider; over-saturating markets with service providers typically results in higher prices–not lower prices–as each operator struggles to cover its fixed costs. TAC Air is fully committed to the [Chattanooga] market and will continue to operate and do everything we can to protect the jobs of our Chattanooga associates.”