SKY AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE (SAM) GRAND OPENING AUG 4th

By?Andy Warfield??–??Reporter, Manufacturing, Aviation, Economic Development, and Workforce, Triad Business Journal

Jul 28, 2021?Updated?Jul 28, 2021, 3:12pm EDT

New aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) operation that set up shop at Davidson County Airport in October 2020 is celebrating its grand opening on Aug. 4, with plans to donate a second aircraft to Guilford Tech Community College and expansion on the horizon.

Sky Aircraft Maintenance, a subsidiary of Sky Aviation Holdings of Pompano Beach, Florida, is operating in 14,000 square feet of leased hangar space and a temporary mobile office, but the company is drawing up plans to build its own hangar, a permanent office, and to employ as many as 100, most of the airframe and powerplant (A&P) technicians.

And the company is planning to feed that talent pipeline by establishing a deep relationship with GTCC’s Aviation Systems Technology program, starting with the donation of one airworthy jet, which it has already done, and one fuselage to the school for FAA certification training purposes.

Sky Aviation Holdings is a broker of pre-owned private jets. It buys, rehabs, and sells aircraft, specializing in Beechjet, Learjet, and Hawker jets. Tom Conlan, the company’s owner, told Triad Business Journal this week that the Triad in general and Davidson County Airport, in particular, provided significant advantages for locating the company’s first MRO operation, not the least of which is the region’s reputation for labor talent and training for aircraft and avionics technicians.

“There's a great workforce with what we think is a great work ethic and hard-working young people,” Conlan said. “What we've experienced there is just a very good core group of young people who really believe that you get out of life what you put into it. ... That's one of the very big positives we found in North Carolina versus some of the other places, like where we are in South Florida, for example.”

Tom Conlan is the owner of Sky Aviation Holdings, the parent company of Sky Aircraft Maintenance at Davidson County Airport.

SKY AVIATION HOLDINGS

Conlan cited GTCC’s program in particular, and to help build that relationship the company previously donated to the college a fully operational 1984 Diamond IA A073SA jet valued at $255,000. It is also shipping from Florida a Diamond jet fuselage with a full avionics package worth $100,000. Loaded on a flatbed, it will be wrapped as a rolling billboard to promote?opportunities in the aircraft maintenance field. Following the grand opening, it will be delivered to GTCC.

So committed to the Davidson County Airport site is Conlan that he has purchased a townhome nearby for a local residence. The Triad, he said, has a solid and growing reputation among aerospace companies. Geography is one factor.

“The number one corridor for air charter is north to south from Florida to New York, and back, with Atlanta in the middle,” Conlan said. “We’re right there kind of in the middle where if somebody needs to stop to have maintenance done or they want to schedule maintenance. The other thing part is that the Triad region has historically had a large aviation presence. One of the reasons why Honda Aircraft picked that area was because there's a good stable workforce of A&P and airplane mechanics.”

Experience in one of the region’s legacy industries is also a benefit, he said.

“We're going to be involved in the interior restoration business, and we think there's a tremendous number of high-quality people still from the furniture industry doing leatherwork and things who can be a great resource going forward in terms of the interior side of the business.”

According to an Economic Impact Study by the?North Carolina Division of Aviation, the Davidson County Airport, directly and indirectly, impacts 520 jobs, provides $2.8 million in property tax revenue from based aircraft, and generates an economic impact of $70.9 million.

The airport recently completed an approach lighting system that stretches across Interstate 85, the first of its kind in North Carolina. It has a hangar space waiting list of more than 50 planes, and a runway rehabilitation project is scheduled to begin in late 2021.