topeka, ks - Scott Freeman, CEO, Freeman Holdings LLC and general manager Walt Frederick, Million Air Topeka recently sat with Airport Business to discuss the benefits of being a part of an FBO franchise, and the current state of business in Kansas' capital city.

Million Air Topeka is located at Forbes Field, a joint civil-military public airport located some six miles south of Topeka's central business district. The airport is owned and operated by the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority.

The airport covers an area of some 2,800 acres and features two concrete paved runways. At different periods of its history the airport supported commercial air service; there is no commercial passenger service here currently.

The franchise

Says Freeman, "The unique thing about Million Air is there is a lot of standardization … requirements and standards that define and enhance the organization."

Million Air Topeka is owned by Chris Freeman and is part of a franchise via Million Air CEO and president Roger Woolsey's Million Air Interlink.

Million Air Interlink was founded in 1984 in Dallas. Collectively, Million Air FBOs are operated as corporate owned and managed FBOs and independent ownership. With more that 25 years of FBO experience, the brand boasts an investment of more than $300,000,000 and some $500,000,000 in annual revenues, with more than 900 aircraft within the leasehold of its facilities.

"So what Roger and his crew in Houston do is make sure each franchisee is meeting the minimum standards set by Million Air Interlink Inc, which owns the Million Air name and franchising rights; Woolsey maintains the quality of the brand," comments Freeman.

"We’ve got a long history with Million Air; we were originally located at another airport in Kansas City before coming here to Topeka.

"I think we were one of the first four or five operations in the Million Air franchise, back when it was Lou Pepper and the Mary Kay Group. "We were early believers then in what they were doing.

"They’ve progressed as a franchise; we think they’ve done a great job with the minimum requirements that you have to have. Living the brand is a big thing for them; we’ve been with them for a long time and we just think they manage this business very well."

Serving the Topeka market

Comments Frederick, "There is a lot of corporate traffic that does come into here as a destination, but because we are in the middle of the U.S., we want to be that mid-America refuel stop; so we get a lot of that."

As the lone FBO on the field here, Freeman says the facility pumped just under 2 million gallons of fuel in 2010.

"We’ve been fortunate here in that we’ve got an eclectic mix of clients," he relates. "We’ve got GA, and we have some corporate traffic [large businesses located close to here include: Tyson Foods, Payless Shoes, Target Distribution Center, GoodYear, and FritoLay].

"We have a diverse economic base here; there’s not one huge industry that controls the city so to speak. We have a huge mix of smaller operations in this region; it’s a mutual fund of companies here where if one industry tanks, it doesn’t take down the entire local economy."

There are some 20 planes based here; all but three are hangared. Hangar space is about half full, relates Frederick, who says a lot of that space is used for transient aircraft [a large business segment for the FBO].

"We get the normal GA recreational flyer here, and we get a lot of corporate charters; mostly turbine-powered aircraft," says Freeman.

In terms of the effect of the economic downtown, Frederick says he thinks it’s flattened out. "Business has gone down but I’m starting to see it come back up."

Remarks Freeman, "It seems like a lot of people downsized in terms of their aircraft. So not only was there a drop in activity in the corporate market, but also some guys were stepping down from a turbine to say, a King Air.

"I think a lot of folks couldn’t give up the airplane because it was so useful for the business, but they downsized what they were flying to save some money in the flight department."

Additional revenue centers

Fort Riley is one hour from Topeka, and when soldiers deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq, or to California for training, they fly through here, says Frederick. "Those are military charters - so Omni, Air International, Ryan International Airlines, North American Airlines, and World Airways.

"When we look at a DC-10, we don’t see it much different than a BeechJet 400; we are very accustomed to servicing wide-body aircraft."

DC-10s and MD-11s that are moving soldiers are contracted with the Air Force, and they come in and pick up Fort Riley soldiers, says Frederick. "But that’s a transportation function; a segment of our four support segments: GA, corporate jet and charter, military charter, and military.

Adds Freeman, "That's another advantage to this location ... we  support Fort Riley; it helps balance the loss in GA or corporate traffic due to the downturn."

Regarding the economy, Freeman says the FBO has been so diverse in customers that business has been pretty stable throughout the downturn.

Another advantage: Topeka is a divert site for Kansas City International Airport (MCI). "So if a thunderstorm sits on top of MCI, they will immediately divert aircraft here. Because we are so used to a diverse mix of aircraft coming in , it’s not a problem for our line guys to handle airliners in that type of circumstance," explains Freeman.