Howard ‘Greg’ Gregory, now 87, was featured as the very first cover story of FBO magazine, the precursor to AIRPORT BUSINESS. In 1986, his company, Des Moines Flying Service, based at Des Moines International Airport, was a full-service FBO. Shortly after the story appeared in the November/December issue of FBO, DMFS sold its fueling operation to Van Dusen (today Signature Flight Support). “We wanted to concentrate on other parts of the business,” says Gregory. “Today, it might be a different story. I might not sell it today. Back then, I thought I was getting old, but I wasn’t.”
Says Gregory, “The industry really hasn’t changed all that much. There’s still airports, charter, fuel, fixed base operations. We’re more in the business of aircraft sales than we were 20 years ago. We don’t do charter anymore and we don’t do instruction.” Both charter and flight instruction have too much regulation to keep up with, says Gregory. “It’s too complicated and expensive to get a certificate and maintain it. I think the regulation is necessary, but it’s an awful lot to keep up with.”
In the last 20 years, Gregory says fractional ownership is something that has had a large impact on aircraft ownership, particularly jet ownership. He says that the introduction of the entry level jet will also have an impact on the industry. “We’re going to see a big change,” says Gregory. “How they’re going to handle the air traffic control system, how they’re going to handle the charter business, and the private owner.” He says that Des Moines Flying Service may expand into servicing and marketing ELJs.
Security is much more of a priority for airports than it was two decades ago, says Gregory. “To get into our own shop we have to have an ID badge.”
One change Gregory comments on is the perception people have of airports and what he sees as dwindling support for them. “It’s harder to maintain an airport — people don’t like them like they used to. Some of the romance is gone out of it. Instead of looking up and admiring an airplane passing over, people plug their ears.”
