Then & Now

As industry representatives of the aviation services industry prepare to meet in Las Vegas for the annual Aviation Industry Expo and National Air Transportation Association convention, it’s appropriate to revisit one of the segment’s more successful and prominent members, John Tucker, who was the cover feature of the January/February 1989 issue of FBO (predecessor to AIRPORT BUSINESS).

Tucker, a former president of Butler Aviation, in 1972 purchased a controlling interest in Young Aviation and renamed it Midcoast Aviation. In the ensuing years, he would lead the company to expand to bases at three St. Louis area airports as well as Little Rock, AR.

Tucker developed a reputation for Midcoast’s corporate culture which bred entrepreneurs as well as a pragmatic approach, evidenced by a quote from the 1989 article: “We’ve got to know our clientele. It’s a little like a butcher shop. When Mrs. Murphy comes in, you had better know how she likes her pork chops cut or she’s down the street to another joint... We better pretty much know how our clientele wants things done, or we lose them.”

In February, it was announced that Jet Aviation is acquiring Midcoast Aviation, which will retain the name but be branded “A Jet Aviation Company.”