Cause for celebration

Andy Priester, President and CEO of Priester Aviation, on the company’s 75th Anniversary

Priester Aviation was founded by George Priester in 1945 as a flight training school that eventually evolved into the multi-disciplinary aviation service company that it is today. As the aviation community developed and businesses began to expand globally, George Priester saw that the airplane was going to become the business vehicle of choice and anticipated the growth of the market.

The need for flexible point-to-point travel became a necessity and alternatives to commercial airline service were imperative. Priester’s goal was to provide executives and other discerning travelers with premium aviation services, tailored to fit the individual needs of each client. Today, Priester operates a fleet of world-class aircraft and has a proud tradition of providing its clients with the same commitment it held 75 years ago.

AH: Andy, these are very difficult times for the whole industry. How is Priester Aviation doing and what are your expectations?

AP: Illinois is still under a stay at home order, as we speak. Basically, everyone in business, including in our industry, is doing what it takes to get through this period.

AH: In early May, one of the big unresolved questions as we look to the near future is whether matters will have improved enough for the NBAA Conference and Exhibition to take place in October or November. What are your thoughts?

AP: I think the most probable outcome is that NBAA will look a little different than in years past with a chance it could have a virtual component, out of an abundance of caution. Ed Bolen has done a really good job of leading the industry and behaving in responsible ways. I would think that by the Fall we should have our arms around the pandemic and be on a path to recovery, with businesses starting to return to normal. However, I do not see the public being confident enough for the usual 40,000 attendees to turn up at NBAA. Without the delegates, or with a greatly reduced attendance, the incentive to exhibit at NBAA will be weakened.

The other thing that the NBAA leadership will have to take into account is that a number of the usual exhibitors, as they look at the damage to their revenue models in 2020, may well decide to skip it this year. They will have their sights on reducing costs and rebuilding, and that will perhaps weigh as much with some of them as safety issues.

AH: Priester Aviation has a tremendous history behind it. That must be a source of great pride to you.

AP: Absolutely. We are currently celebrating our 75th Anniversary and I couldn’t be more delighted or more proud to continue the tradition. The company was founded by my grandfather, George Priester and I am the third generation. These are challenging times, but there is just as much pride in managing the organisation through a turbulent period as there is in managing in boom times.

AH: What were your early years in the company like?

AP: When I got out of College, I went into teaching. I was an eighth-grade science teacher and was on track to become a school principal. However, in 1997 I took a sabbatical from teaching to see if I would enjoy working in the family business. I’d grown up with it. The company was talked about constantly at the dinner table. I have a brother and three sisters and none of them were in the company, so if it was going to continue to be managed by the family it looked like it was down to me.

The family owned Pal-Waukee airport for years and finally sold it in the mid-1980s. Having started as a flight school, the business evolved into an FBO, with charter and aircraft ownership and maintenance among its services. However, in 2001 we sold everything apart from charter and aircraft management.

AH: What was the thinking behind the sale?

AP: The future for a sole FBO, trying to compete against the big FBO chains was always going to be an uphill battle, so we sold the FBO to Signature. Another reason underlying the sale was the change in refueling habits. Prop planes used to land and refuel as a matter of course. With more and more, longer range turbojets landing, as an FBO you were competing for fuel sales with the aircraft’s previous and next stops. So, it was the right time to sell.

Aircraft management and providing top quality services to owners is now very much where our strengths lie. Relationships and a strong focus on integrity are the two most important factors that enable a business like ours to grow. The proof of this is that whereas in October 2001, after we had reshaped the business, we had seven aircraft under management, we now manage in the mid-50s.

AH: You clearly need a great team around you to manage that level of business.

AP: Absolutely. I know a lot about our business but there is no way I can be an expert on everything, so I need a great team. We have been fortunate in attracting very talented people over the years and retaining their services.

AH: I’ve heard it said many times by CEOs of aircraft management companies, that for their clients they are often the first person the client calls if something goes wrong.

AP: Our clients are high net worth individuals, so they naturally want to speak to the top people in the company. And yes, you do get the 3:00 am call when something has gone wrong. Those are maybe not the greatest calls to get, but you get plenty of other calls from clients that give you pride and satisfaction. That all helps to keep me grounded.

Nobody is happy when an aircraft goes AoG, but eight out of ten times, when the situation has been resolved, the owner will express a level of appreciation for how things were dealt with. Owners are very demanding, and that is to be expected. But they are also generally realists. So, when you help them resolve issues, that further strengthens the relationship. If someone is absolutely unrealistic, that is probably not a relationship you would want to pursue anyway! Life is too short.

AH: What are your thoughts for the future? How big do you want to be?

AP: I think the best answer to that is, we have an appetite for growth, certainly, but we never want to outgrow who we are. We treasure the relationships we build up with the owners and with our employees, and we would not want to lose that feel of being a family business. We want to maintain the size of fleet that we can continue to relate to, and where we can continue to deliver on the owners’ expectations.

I want to know each and every owner and every pilot, and how their kids are doing. I can’t do all that on my own. I need my senior managers to be working constantly to make that culture work, and to inculcate it throughout their departments. Without a team who can perform like this, Priester would not be what it is today.

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