Industry News

Editor:
I am writing to defend my business reputation which was unfairly and unnecessarily misrepresented in a recent article published February 2010 in AIRPORT BUSINESS. “Tapping the Future in Denison” describes a North Texas airport trying to reach its full potential through efforts being spearheaded by a local real estate developer and a county judge, who states that “Grayson county and its airport are central components to the region’s economic fortunes”. Developer [George] Schuler, with an early stage 2,000-acre planned development nearby, would naturally agree.

The article loses its focus when developer Schuler tries to explain how he became the “FBO by default”. Schuler states he had “loans on all these facilities and they were not getting paid” and “he would either have to foreclose or work a deal with the people where they gave a deed in lieu where he could pick it up on the fly to try to salvage the jobs”. Why would he feel compelled to explain how he came into possession of these facilities? Many who know George have heard him claim that he never makes a loan where he wouldn’t rather have the collateral than the loan payoff. Well, it appears that he got what he wanted this time and for the past three years has been trying to figure out what to do with all this “potential”. He is truly the dog that caught the pick-up truck, and rest assured, it was by design not default.

The writer’s next quote from Schuler misrepresents the circumstances and defames my business reputation so I wish to set the record straight. “Schuler is quite frank when discussing how he got into ownership of Lake Texoma Jet Center and Red River Turbines. By default — he was an investor backing Roger Hummiston, who went into default after buying out the interests of Joe Best.”

Schuler’s statement is slanderous, and untrue on both counts. The writer ... should have recognized Schuler’s statement as mean spirited, and checked to see if the facts were as he stated. When found to be false, that entire statement should have been left out, instead of a tiny corrective footnote being printed at the bottom of this very long article. In fact Mr. Infanger did not even correctly spell my last name.

The true story is that beginning in 1992, my wife Kate Woolstenhulme and I founded a series of successful aviation companies that we owned and operated till 2006 when we sold our interests to Phoenix Associates Land Syndicate, not to George Schuler. At the time of the sale to Phoenix, we employed more than 110 aviation professionals, managed, operated, and maintained more than a dozen jet aircraft, had MROs for jet engine overhaul and repair, as well as aircraft maintenance. Our interior refurbishment shop distinguished itself with Learjet, Falcon, and Gulfstreams. The modernized Lears, known as “BestJets”, earned their own distinction in the Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest and are still admired for their quality and style. With annual revenues of over $25MM, our businesses never defaulted on any payments or loans.

For those who know me personally, this rebuttal is unnecessary. For those in the industry who do not, but have read the slanderous and untrue statements by Schuler ... this should set the record straight. The question remains ... why would my name enter into the conversation at all? I would suggest that, in an effort to promote his own image or interests, this is not the first time that George Schuler has misstated the facts or made untrue statements. A quick Google search on George Schuler’s real estate dealings reveals his history of making false statements and the court’s opinion of his actions. When I left the Grayson County Airport four years ago, the airport was a beehive of aviation activity. If it is not so now, then real estate developer Schuler and the county judge, who was elected just after we moved away, need a revised plan to attract aviation businesses to that airport.Roger Humiston
Coconut Grove, FL