To the Kansas City Aviation Community
To the KC Aviation Community:
Today marks three months since the devastation to our fleet. It's been a wild ninety days to say the least, but we wanted to reach out to our community with an update on our restoration efforts and, most of all, with a message of gratitude.
As most of you know, the "gustnado" that came through totaled nine of our thirteen airplanes. One was untouched (N3936M); one had minor damage (N8382A); two had to go offsite for repairs: N6394C (which is back in service) and N5297E (expected to be back and in the air in about two weeks). We are lucky to have the best insurance agent and adjusters in the business who came through swiftly to process the claims. We were able to turn around and secure the following planes to replace our nine losses:
We're extremely proud of our team for working tirelessly to get this new fleet up and running, especially our maintenance team for traveling all over the country to inspect the airplanes and getting them ready for our Part 141 program. Our maintenance crew has been our backbone through all of this, and we will never be able to thank them enough for their loyalty and dedication to our survival. We are also grateful to our dispatchers and our instructors for sticking with us through the unknown. We did not lose one employee during all of this, and that speaks volumes to the work family we've created here at ATD. And last but certainly not least, to our Chief Flight Instructor and everyone's favorite DPE, Andrew Waterland: we can't even imagine where we'd be right now without you.
But the gratitude does not stop there. Shortly after the devastation, we sent a note out to our community asking for help in retaining our staff. We were floored to see the donations that came in, and so touched by the turnout for our Bingo night fundraiser at Chicken N' Pickle. Your generosity gave us the breathing room we needed to put our heads down and secure these new airplanes. We did not have to worry about how we were going to make payroll for our instructors solely because you all came through to help cover their lost wages. Our instructors were able to maintain their average income through this which was a huge concern for us in the very beginning. You, the community, are the reason why we survived this with our team intact. We've still got a long road ahead of us after such a huge loss, but getting our students and instructors in the air was priority number one. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the huge role you've played in helping us achieve this.
We truly have the best aviation community here in Kansas City. We are so grateful to remain a part of it, all thanks to you.
-The Hays Family
Special thank you to the following individuals and companies who came through for us in our time of need:
Lisa LaMantia and the team at Revv Aviation
James Gardner and Katrina Johnston of the The James A Gardner Company, Inc
Rob McConnell of McConnell & Associates
Bill Keen of Keen Wealth Advisors
Hal Shapiro of REAL Property Group
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Jeff Bolden of Red Tail Academy
Andrew Troha - ATD Alumnus and Phenom 300 SIC at Airshare
Ali Shabbir - ATD Alumnus and Falcon 2000 SIC at Rennia Aviation
Jim and James W. Cooling of Cooling & Herbers, P.C.
The Wonderful Folks at Charlie Hustle Clothing Co.
Clark Eschliman of Farmers Bank & Trust
Russell Day of Old Republic Surety Company
David and Kyndal Costello
Doug Hereford of Kansas Avionics
Andrew and Karianne Waterland and the extended Waterland Family
Tom and Twyla Stark
Ethan and Chris Kirk
Gil and Tara Martin
Violin/Viola Instructor at Northland Cathedral School of Music/ REW Music, Executive Director at Northland Symphony Orchestra Association
1 年What a tremendous job by all involved to keep ATD’s doors open! It truly takes a village.