Building on Experience

The ongoing five-year management contract for FBO services at Charlotte came about after a Signature Flight Support lease came to term and long-time airport director Jerry Orr decided to take the operation in a different direction, one that gave the airport more control and flexibility. Wilson Air Center responded to a request for proposals to run the operation. During the review process Bob Wilson encouraged Charlotte board members to come see his Memphis operation first hand, which they did and which subsequently resulted in his company being awarded the the contract.

Recalls Wilson, “We went back and re-did the old Signature place. It was kind of interesting because we had people who left that morning with Signature and when they came back they were with Wilson along with a whole different way they were handled.”

Wilson Air Center has a similar contract arrangement at Chattanooga, hired to operate a new FBO terminal facility built by the airport and which will compete with current tenant Tac Air. The facility has drawn its share of criticism, brought on by the National Air Transportation Association and others who charge that the public airport is competing with private enterprise, possibly using federal grant monies in the process.

Bob Wilson looks beyond the argument, citing economic growth in the Chattanooga region spurred by investments by automaker VW and bookseller Amazon.com. He says he had looked at the Chattanooga market some eight years earlier, but the market wasn’t developing yet. When the airport called and suggested he consider bidding on the RFP for the management contract, he took a second look.

“I think the beneficiary of what’s going to happen over there is going to be the guy flying the airplane, without any question, whether he goes to TAC Air or goes to us, he’ll be a beneficiary.

“We decided to bid on it; as far as what the airport did and how they did it, talk to them. They really have a nice front door now, which I think the city lacked. It’s a [five-year] contract; they pay us a yearly fee plus a percentage. Personally, I think it’s a long-term play. I think Chattanooga needed a front door.”