A Recent Visit to Million Air Dallas ...

July 14, 2010
... brings to light how far the corporate aviation services business has come in the past quarter century. An eventual product of the corporate flight department of the Mary Kay cosmetics empire, Million Air would grow to become a franchise operation with independent companies signing on to the Million Air nationwide marketing concept. I got into this business in1984 as communications manager for the National Air Transportation Association. Shortly thereafter, I met Ed Blair, a marketing guru who had sold the Mary Kay organization on the Million Air franchising concept. I recall having conversations with Blair in which he expressed his frustration at how the industry initially expressed shock (disdain?) with the Million Air name; some felt it held an air of pretentiousness or sent a negative symbol of the industry. (It’s comparable to the hesitancy the National Business Aviation Association had about hosting its annual convention in Las Vegas, which proved to be arguably its biggest draw.) But there was more. The new Million Air facility, which opened in 1984 at Addison Airport north of Dallas, was unlike most fixed base operations of the day. It may have been the first modern corporate aviation facility, as we know them today. Sleep rooms; a theater room; workout gym; the amenities – Million Air brought the limousine into the corporate flight facility. Today, it’s become a norm. Another interesting aspect of Million Air Dallas is that through all the buyout frenzy of the past decade, ownership didn’t sell out. One has to imagine there were at least one or two lucrative offers. An FBO located at a major city reliever airport selling as much as 500,000 gallons of fuel a month was undoubtedly attractive to the investors of the day. The owner didn’t succumb. The Million Air Dallas FBO continues to be a first-class facility, and the company recently invested a significant chunk of change on upgrades. They’re looking at a new hangar complex that will include its own lobby for aircraft management/charter customers – a growing profit center over the past five to seven years. It is yet another concept that may be ahead of the market. In the mid-80s when Million Air was founded, the FBO industry was experiencing nothing short of a depression. It wouldn’t rebound and surge in growth until the mid-90s with the advent of the fractionals and the new players they brought to the industry – some whom became FBO buyers/investors. Million Air Dallas general manager Jack Hopkins relates that everything about the facility was questioned back in 1984, when he started with the company. It’s interesting, he says, how in time many chose to follow the lead. The industry changed; one FBO was ahead of the curve. Thanks for reading. jfi (Look for a more detailed report on Million Air Dallas in the July issue of AIRPORT BUSINESS magazine.)