Founded in December 2005, Constant Aviation is celebrating its 15 anniversary — “an unusually long record in the MRO business,” acknowledged David Davies, Constant Aviation’s CEO.
“We started as a single-hangar operation focused on major airframe inspections for business jets. Today, Constant Aviation operates full-service MRO facilities at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) and Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB). Paint and interior facilities are also located in Cleveland and Sanford and mobile aircraft on ground (AOG) technicians dispatch out of 22 cities nationwide,” Davies said.
Constant Aviation specializes in the business aviation sector, providing airframe and engine maintenance, major repairs, avionics, interiors and paint. In addition, they offer mobile response services through their AOG division and accessory and composite services through their Nextant Aerospace division.
Over their 15-year history, Constant Aviation has made significant milestones. Notable highlights include expanding their AOG mobile response network nationwide, dispatching technicians from 22 cities to support grounded aircraft in major metropolitan areas, as well as those more remote. “Since idled aircraft often develop engine, electrical and software issues, this service has been critical as the industry recovers from COVID-19,” Davies noted.
In 2017, Constant Aviation merged their Nextant Aerospace division, a global leader in aircraft and component remanufacturing, with Air Services, a leading provider of off-wing repair and overhaul. The merger gives Constant Aviation access to unmatched engineering and production solutions to address complex accessory and composite issues, Davies said. “Nextant supports the global fleet of Nextant 400XT aircraft with parts and engineering services, and in 2020 Nextant and Constant Aviation won the prestigious contract to upgrade the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Flight Program Challenger 604 aircraft,” Davies continued.
And then, there was the company’s acquiring of a facility at Orlando Sanford International Airport, which provides full-aircraft painting, complete interior installation avionics and onsite non-destructive testing specialties. “The facility, greatly expanded since its acquisition, now has nearly 110,000 sq. ft. of enclosed hangar floor space and can handle aircraft as large as a Gulfstream G650 or Bombardier Global,” Davies said.
Those are just some of the accomplishments from Constant Aviation’s 15-year journey, which Davies said serves a launch pad for their future.
“During the next 15 years and beyond, we will continue to adhere to our core values of service, innovation and quality, continuing to grow and always remaining focused on our bottom line of helping our clients operate safely, efficiently and effectively,” he said. The success is built on Constant’s culture: Focusing on service, innovation and, most importantly, to do quality work, always, for their valued clients.
This past October, Constant Aviation leveraged their Embraer expertise to introduce an “unprecedented” not-to-exceed pricing program for 144-month inspections on Legacy 600 and 650 aircraft, Davies noted. Under the program, customers are provided with an upfront flat rate for the inspection itself and a price cap for discrepancies often found during the inspection process, excluding landing gear and corrosion repair. “This offer limits the customer’s out of pocket expense for many common issues encountered during the inspection. Constant Aviation has been an Embraer Authorized Service Center since their founding and its extensive history with the Legacy airframe includes the world’s first wing and nose change and more than 2.2 million hours of maintenance experience overall,” he said.
Davies said that the first inspection conducted through the Legacy 600 not-to-exceed pricing program proved so successful that Constant Aviation is now developing similar programs for the Legacy 600 and 650 48-month and 96-month inspections.
Constant Aviation’s experience and accomplishments have led to a level of expertise that Davies said helps set them apart from competitors. “This is especially true for heavy maintenance inspections like the Bombardier Challenger 7,500-cycle inspection,” elaborated Davies. “Constant Aviation is the only MRO capable of performing this comprehensive inspection, and we have completed nearly 20 7,500-cycle inspections to date. Each inspection requires more than 8,000 man-hours to complete and our knowledge and experience with each aspect of the inspection puts us in the best position to return the aircraft to service with as little downtime as possible.”
And, having Nextant Aerospace available as an in-house engineering team also distinguishes Constant Aviation by allowing the MRO to take on complex and specialized projects. “These skilled engineers enable us to take on detailed and specialized projects that other MROs might outsource. The Nextant engineering team specializes in aircraft component engineering and certification, non-destructive testing and parts and STC kitting,” Davies said.
And while Constant Aviation can count many accomplishments over the years, they have not come without their challenges. “Our biggest challenge has always been ensuring we have the qualified personnel and facilities we need to capitalize on the growth opportunities in front of us. We’ve met that challenge consistently by investing in people and operations, making sure we can provide solutions when they are needed,” Davies said.
And of course, Constant Aviation’s greatest challenge of the past year is the same challenge all of the industry has had to face — COVID-19. Though, private aviation’s resilience through the pandemic has lessened the blow the pandemic has had on the MRO.
“The private aviation industry downturn resulting from COVID-19 has been our biggest challenge lately,” Davies explained. “We saw a downturn early last year, but by late July our AOG division was working at full capacity, especially in significant hot spots such as the Bay Area, the Southeast and Chicago. We also added technicians to help us handle the demand we’re seeing in the Northeast and on the West Coast.
“While the commercial carriers have been recovering only slowly from the COVID-19 pandemic, the private jet side of the aviation industry has rebounded nearly to its pre-COVID-19 levels. We see a continued gradual recovery for the airlines and growth past previous levels for business aviation. A lot of people have been exposed to private aviation as a result of COVID-19 who might not have tried it under normal circumstances and this has been a positive for the industry in what otherwise was an awful year.”
Davies added that he sees the growth and aging of the private aviation fleet as one of the greatest drivers for the company’s future. “First, private aviation is growing rapidly and the sheer number of aircraft that need to be serviced is growing. Second, that same fleet is gradually aging, as aircraft are seeing heavier service and are kept in service longer. They need enhanced maintenance to maximize their performance and keep them operating and the use of new technologies in aircraft operations is creating demand for ever-increasing levels of technical skill,” he said.
