Hawaii's OHANA

Anusewicz will tell you that the FBO business is a little bit different in Hawaii. On the mainland, FBOs need to have larger facilities because they are catering to pilots that have to be there to wait for their passengers. Understandably, most people making the trip to Hawaii will plan to stay; therefore, FBO facilities are not always needed. "But we positioned ourselves to grow and now we are getting ready to build a 40,000 squar-feet hangar in Kona," says Anusewicz. In Maui, though they will not build new for another couple of years as they have moved into an older facility just last year and reconditioned it. In Honolulu they are working with a bankruptcy court on another FBO, Century Aviation, which has been in bankruptcy for some time.

Corrosion control prevention is another opportunity for growth for Bradley because the corrosion factor for equipment is so prevalent due to the salt air. Due to the expansion of EPA regulations, they are now in the development stage for a new maintenance area that will house a paint booth, which can fit a 10,000-gallon truck. "If we get the approval to put it in we will certainly have the area to take care of others," says Anusewicz. "It only makes sense either to do their painting or allow them to do their painting and be able to pay for our investment."

A Word About Ohana

Ken Best:
There's a commitment, there's a feeling here, family, the term is used OHANA. People are committed to this state. Most of the people that work in contract services are locals, born and raised here and there's a level of bonding. People think in terms of how they can help each other work as a team.

Neil Takekawa:
We all work together as a team. This is an island mentality. We are very competitive with each other but we still need to work with one another. For example, I buy my fuel through Bradley and I'll do my own into-plane, but in the neighboring islands I'll contract with him to do everything.

Tom Anusewicz:
As Neil said, we do work together because everybody's going to have their day that doesn't work out. Our role on the ramp is if our neighbors need something, be there for them because tomorrow you'll be knocking on their door. And because of the cost of the equipment, if there's an opportunity we try to share. The airlines are on the edge and they are trying to keep their costs down so if we can do the same, it makes more sense for us. Some airlines are struggling more than others and they all are trying to keep their costs down so if we can do the same, it benefits us all.