Sharing some outtakes from opposite ends of the fence ...
Encore FBO, based in Houston, recently announced it had acquired Frederick (MD) Aviation, giving it seven fixed base operations in Europe and the U.S. A year ago it had none.
The FBO market remains hot, says Encore CEO Dan Bucaro, and he and his group made up of former Trajen execs plan to remain aggressive. It seems the only limit is his non-compete with Macquarie, which acquired Trajen Flight Support’s FBOs.
Comments Bucaro, “I cannot compete on the fields that they bought from us, and I can’t compete on the fields that they owned at the time they bought us. So, there’s roughly 40-something fields that we can’t be on — for three years.”
A couple of other outtakes from the discussion with Bucaro ...
- On what to hire as a GM today: a finance person or an FBO person?
“I think you need both.
“The business runs well because we focus on safety and customer service first. If you forget that and just look at this as a financial model, it won’t work long term. Do we do everything the same way as somebody who has been in the FBO business for 25 years? No; we consolidate back offices.”
- On the U.S. model versus the European model for line services:
“I think there’s going to be a convergence. You’re going to make a little more money on fuel in Europe ... and in the U.S. you’re going to charge more fees and make less [fuel] margin.”
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This issue’s cover story on South-west Florida International Airport is more of a perspective piece, relating a recent terminal construction experience and the aftermath. Bob Ball says a lot of what you see at Ft. Myers reflects a lot of what he learned elsewhere.
Some Bob Ball outtakes ...
- On exercising the exclusive rights at GA reliever Page Field:
“We’ve been able to take a GA airport that was essentially losing $300,000 a year to an airport which is now netting close to $700,000 a year. We use that to match grants. We have a taxiway under development and are currently working to develop a new general aviation terminal.”
[A private firm, PrivateSky, provides FBO services at the international airport.]
- On privatization of U.S. airports, which is back in the news:
“I’ve never been a big supporter of airport privatizataion in the U.S. I think it’s something that local governments need to maintain.
“The privatization model brings in a third party whose mission in life is to provide revenues for their shareholders, or some perceived ideas which cities may think provide revenue sources for potential revenue diversion. But I really don’t believe it’s a model that maximizes opportunities for federal and state grants, or maintains that low cost structure which we want to achieve for airlines.
“Although I could be wrong.”
Thanks for reading.
