As a pilot who lived on Amelia Island, Fla., Brian Echard saw room for improvement at the local FBO at Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport. After retiring from a career in health care in 2010, he continued to explore the idea, which eventually led to him pursuing and winning an RFP to run the FBO.
He then put in motion plans to improve customer service and create a unique facility that not only stood apart from the traditional FBO terminal, but also celebrated the roots of the airport.
Bent Wing Flight Services opened its new $4.5 million terminal in October, which isn’t your typical airport building. Flying away from traditional design, the terminal is instead shaped like a F4U Corsair.
A need for change
Echard said the old FBO was based in a 4,000 square feet concrete block hangar that had little amenities for pilots or passengers arriving at the facility. Traffic was stagnant at the airport, so better facilities and services were needed to compete with other FBOs at Jacksonville International Airport and Jacksonville Executive Airport.
“It was not very operationally friendly,” he said. “It had a small waiting room and a small break room and that was about it. It didn’t have really any facilities for pilots.”
Echard said about 70 percent of the business coming into the airport is fractional charter business. The longest runway is 5,300 feet and the largest aircraft coming in now are Gulfstream G650s. There’s a lot of business aircraft coming in for meetings at the Ritz Carlton and the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort.
Jack Healan, a pilot and resident of Amelia Island said he first started flying into the airport in 1971, when there wasn’t even bathrooms available at the facility. He said the old structure was essentially a “shed next to a hangar,” and wasn’t very inviting to visitors.
“Before when you were flying in a corporate jet and bringing executives in, most of the time a car would meet the plane and they wouldn’t even come into the terminal,” he said. “Now it’s more inviting and people are starting to come in and use the facilities instead of moving on.”
The airport had about 47,000 operations in 2017. Since taking over FBO services in April 2018, Echard said they’ve grown the fuel volume by about 35 percent, which he credits to the pricing structure and customer service amenities put in place along with enhanced marketing efforts.
While the old facility was outdated, Echard said it wasn’t the first order of business when he took over the FBO. He was even prepared to work out of a dressed up temporary facility until a new building was constructed.
“I originally wanted to open a customer service driven FBO,” he said. “A new terminal isn’t going to provide better customer service, so the philosophy I wanted put in place was a customer focused FBO that would give the red carpet service to incoming pilots, have competitive pricing and give a different level of service.
“The facilities needed some serious updating and rep carpet service and competitive fuel pricing while putting a new face on the airport.”
On top of adding services such as better fuel pricing, Echard said the FBO also added GPUs, a pilot lounge, and a Hertz rental service. It added to an increase in fractional traffic, which had been lost to Jacksonville International in the past.
“Even though they were coming to Amelia Island, the previous FBO didn’t support some of those services that NetJets and other charter companies required,” he said. “We’re marketing to those guys we’ve had a huge growth in that business.”
A look to the past for the future
Echard said the city of Fernandina Beach was looking for a partner to help pay the copays to build a new terminal to be a great community asset and increase traffic at the airport and be a partner for the next 30 years.
The airport originally opened during World War II as a training facility to train pilots of the F4U Cosair. The design of the new FBO pays homage to these roots.
When they first sat down to design the new terminal, Echard said he wanted to include areas like flight planning rooms, pilot lounges and adequate break rooms with kitchen facilities that are common at newer FBO facilities.
“I wanted something different. Something that would distinguish this FBO from every other square boxed FBO in the country,” Echard said. “We decided to go with a historical connection with the fact this was a World War II airport.”
The design was an immediate hit with pilots and outside traffic, but Echard said there were some challenges on the local level where some leaders and residents were concerned about the look.
He said there was concern from residents the facility would even take off and fly in a strong wind.
“We had a lot of support from the Florida Department of Transportation, from the FAA, from Gov. [Rick] Scott’s Department of Economic Opportunity,” he said. “It seems like everyone outside of Amelia Island really embraced design, but there was a small but vocal group who thought the design was a little Disney-esque.”
The city put together a committee of local pilots, citizens, Echard and the architect to create a committee-driven design that won the approval of the city commission. It took about six months to get the approval.
Taking a bold design step on an FBO terminal can be challenge, but Echard said it’s important to connect it locally before undertaking a different style.
“Even the name Bent Wing Flight Services, I have even quite a few pilots come in and say ‘wow, that’s a crazy name, it kind of sounds like a broken wing,’ but it’s a way I can educate them about the F4U Corsair and that particular aircraft having the nickname the “Bent Wing Bird,’” he said. “They tie it all together and they get a little history lesson and then they get it.”
The new terminal is about 12,500 square feet. Bent Wing leases about 70 percent of the building. The other 30 percent includes a public observation area under the east wing of the terminal along with an administrative conference room rented by the city.
FDOT, the state department of economic opportunity and the FAA all contributed to the cost of building the new facility. The city of Fernandina Beach Airport Enterprise Fund took out a loan to help finance the facility as well, which will be repaid from Bent Wing’s rent.
Bent Wing contributed $337,000, which was provided via a no-interest loan being paid back overtime via rent credits.
“Part of the RFP, we committed to $2 million for a three-phase package to the facility,” Echard said. “The first phase was to contribute to the co-share amounts needed for the construction of the terminal building. The second phase is Bent Wing is providing $80,000 for a new fuel farm this year.
The third phase is a $1.5 million grant coming in two years to build a large corporate bulk hangar adjacent to the new terminal and we’ve committed an additional $800,000 for that project.”
Echard said they continued the military theme inside the terminal. They have World War II memorabilia on display; a half-scale model F4U Corsair hanging from the ceiling of the lobby; vintage model airplanes hang from the ceiling for the break room; a 1970s era F-14 Tomcat Pinball machine in the pilot’s lounge; and a shopette that has vintage aircraft manufacturer items for sale.
The furniture is also aviation-themed with Spitfire chairs, which are stainless steel chairs that look like cockpit seats.
“We’ve got a Willys World War II Jeep in the lobby and we’ve got a reception desk that I had custom made out of a 1943 T-6 aircraft fuselage,” he said. “It has the wing flap as the writing area, the mat around it is the portable runway system used during the war.”
Mickey Baity, president of Friends of Fernandina Aviation, a non-profit group, that promotes aviation education in the community, said the new terminals has been a great addition to the community and bring interest from the general public as well.
“If you haven’t been here yet, you really need to go inside to get the full effect of it,” he said. “Bent Wing has done a terrific job on the interior part of it. They spared no expense to outfit the inside. It really shows and it has become a very nice facility.
Payoffs hit now
Since it opened, Echard said it’s common to see people stopping to take their picture outside of the building or bring visitors to see the facility.
“As a pilot, when you fly over it, looks like a huge aircraft sitting on the ramp,” he said. “It’s got a nose, it’s got a tail, it’s got a huge skylight in the middle of the building that resembles a cockpit, so when you fly over it, it looks very impressive, when you pull up on the ramp it looks impressive, when you’re in the parking lot with the tail and the Navy insignia it looks impressive.”
Healan said seeing the evolution of the FBO into an upscale facility while still harkening back to the roots of the airport is unique.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen one that looks like an airplane,” he said. “It’s the first terminal I’ve ever seen with a tail. It kind of raises your eyebrows when you fly over and you say ‘wow, look there,’ and you know where the terminal is.”
Baity said the backdrop of the FBO also helps his group’s mission by getting people more interested and educated in what the airport does.
“We just helped with the EAA [recently] to fly some kids we have identified to go to a summer STEM camp,” he said. “We brought their parents out and they went through the building and onto observation deck.
“You bring people in that don’t normally have any contact with the airport.”
There are 56 T-hangars on the airfield with based customers along with 20 other aircraft tied down on the field that are based customers. Echard said there’s a waiting list of about 60 people wanting to also move their aircraft to the airport.
“I’m trying to work with the city to build some additional hangars that would grow our business,” he said. “Being a resort town helps and we also have a huge pent up demand for service here, so my goal is to work with the city and try to meet that demand.”
The unique venue is attracting events to the facility. Echard said they’ve hosted large corporate fundraisers and customer appreciation events. Fly-in groups are coming to the facility, such as the Mirage MMOPA Owners Convention and the American Yankee Association holding their national convention in October.
“I hear from transient pilots on a weekly basis that this is the coolest FBO they’ve even been in and that makes me feel good,” he said. “When I hear pilots tell me this is the coolest FBO they’ve ever been in, and these are pilots who fly all over the world, it makes me feel good.”
