Changes at Western Aircraft

Oct. 22, 2008
Slattery named Vice President of Interiors and Completions, re-completion center sees busy start.

BOISE, ID – Western Aircraft’s new re-completion center has been busy in its first few months, and the company announces Mike Slattery as Vice President of Interiors and Completions. Slattery will oversee the Western Aircraft Interior re-completion center effective Oct. 1, 2008.

Slattery has a thorough knowledge of the aircraft interior industry with more than 30 years experience of working for several major aviation companies. Prior to coming to Western Aircraft, Slattery was Director of Operations at Savannah Air Center, and oversaw their Repair Station activities including interior, paint, maintenance and avionics. He has also served as Director of Challenger and Global Express Completions for Bombardier in Tucson, and has held similar positions at DeCrane Aircraft, K-C Aviation, and McKinney Aerospace.

The Western Aircraft Re-Completion Center was announced this past winter, and is the company’s largest initiative since it was named a Factory-Authorized Falcon Jet Service Center in 2001. Since then, Falcon has become the company’s largest aircraft services business segment, which has augmented its specialization in Hawker and Pilatus aircraft services.

"By going into interior modifications, we are offering more choices for our customers," says Allen Hoyt, President and COO of Western Aircraft. "Our first step was to hire an experienced shop manager and we got that with Steve Denny, who is doing a great job of getting the shop started. Now, we are adding Mike Slattery to the team. The depth of his industry knowledge, history of strong business results, and reputation in the industry is a tremendous asset to us and our customers. It’s important to us that customers understand the large investment we are making in the re-completion center by attracting and hiring the best in the industry — and Mike is a great example of that."

Design of the re-completion center began in the winter, and construction began in earnest during the summer. The construction of the operations portion of the facility is nearly complete. The company is currently able to handle all softgoods work and cabinetry refinishing/repair, and will be able to build "green" cabinets in November. Additionally, the company’s completely new re-completion design center is now open for business. A Falcon 900 interior mock-up is in process, and will complement the design center. The company has also attained its re-completion center staffing goals for the year. In addition to Denny, the shop includes a total of 16 shop craftsmen and installers, with more to be added next year.

Some projects that the company has either completed or are scheduled in the shop include:

  • Falcon 50 cabinetry refurbishment, re-upholstered seats and new carpet
  • Pilatus PC-12 complete new interior
  • Several Falcon 2000 window line panels, lower sidewalls and carpet replacements
  • Falcon 2000 cabin entertainment installation and partial cabinetry refurbishment
  • Falcon 900EX passive sound dampening project
  • In addition, Western Aircraft has completed many smaller projects on Pilatus, Hawker, Falcon and other turbine aircraft.

"We are very happy with the reception we have received from old and new customers alike," says Colleen Back, VP of Sales and Business Development. "The shop is busy, and we are focused as always on producing a quality product for our customers. We have so much to look forward to in 2009 and beyond — we now have a dream team, with people like Slattery, Denny, our designer Karen Cooper, and the technical staff on board."

For more information visit www.westair.com.