Finalizing Agreement With Boeing On DoD Mentor Protégé Program

Business aviation’s ups and downs can create a bumpy ride, but as King Aerospace Commercial Corporation (KACC) enters its 25th year, the company has never been stronger. That is due, in part, to its growing relationship with Boeing. The Oklahoma-based, AS9110-certified company offers Part 91, 121, 125 and 135 maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and exterior paint for VIP and VVIP aircraft, specializing in the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ).

King Aerospace is finalizing a partnership with Boeing in the U.S. Department of Defense’s Mentor Protégé Program (MPP), designed to help small businesses expand their footprint. The 18-month program involves quarterly meetings at Boeing’s Oklahoma City offices, ongoing counsel through phone calls and emails, and Boeing site visits to Ardmore. There are 150 Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) in the world with 40 of those based in the United States. This past spring, King Aerospace completed its first BBJ Gogo Biz 4G installation. This included a Satcom Direct Router (SDR) system upgrade and performance of a maintenance heavy check.

“This kind of mentorship means everything to a small, family-owned business such as ours,” says Jarid King, who became president of King Aerospace Companies in May 2016. “We see tremendous opportunity ahead as our services focused on the BBJ and Boeing 737 increase.”

The ability to both paint VVIP aircraft and provide interior refurbishment and maintenance give King Aerospace a competitive advantage. It’s the only privately owned company to offer this capability, and one of only five suppliers worldwide to serve this one-stop-shop market niche. King Aerospace routinely performs work for Boeing, Cessna and Bombardier aircraft. Supporting both corporate jets and VVIP aircraft enables small fleet operators with both classes of aircraft to turn to King Aerospace as a high-quality, but value-priced, turnkey solution. King Aerospace – a dealer for Gogo, Honeywell and Rockwell Collins – installs both voice and data upgraded communication systems.

From Day One, King Aerospace has worked to build an incredibly resilient, value-driven corporate culture. Chairman and Founder Jerry King summarizes the company’s approach by saying, “We’re all in.” The wings of the King logo, for example, don’t come with the uniform. Team members earn them – and can lose them. Peers determine who demonstrates wing-worthy behavior. It takes a commitment to the company’s cornerstone principles. A couple of the most referenced ones: quality in everything – no excuses – and proactive, problem-solving attitudes.

“Our aviation support services have stood the test of time because we’re loyal to our principles, our gold wings and each other,” says Jarid King. “Our customers know us to be open, honest and hardworking. They choose to work with us because of our demonstrated values. With us, everything’s on the table. If there’s an issue, we own it and operate with full transparency. Customers appreciate being kept in the know and seeing our solution take shape real time.”

King offers an experience that’s quite different from many of the other providers. Customers have full access to the team members working on their aircraft. They sit in on team debriefs. If there is an issue, the customer hears it without sugarcoating. Friday mornings the full team has breakfast – customers included.

KACC’s strength is enhanced by its sister company, King Aerospace, Inc. (KAI), a global operation that serves the U.S. military and government to deliver responsive aircraft maintenance and logistics support services in some of the world’s most hostile, remote and harsh locations. In addition to its Dallas, TX home office; KAI operates facilities in El Paso, TX; Camp Humphreys, Korea; and 24/7 logistics outposts around the world. It was founded in 1992 and is participating in the 25th-anniversary celebration with KACC.

As a privately owned company, King Aerospace does not release its financials, but KAI is on track to achieve a record-breaking year by achieving 30-plus percent increase over 2017. It projects continued, robust growth in fiscal year 2019. KACC and KAI together employ nearly 200 team members and a steady influx of contractors.

“We’ve got strong tailwinds pushing us forward,” says Jerry King. “The company we’ve built with our passionate team and incredible clients make this anniversary a dream come true.”

(Source: King Aerospace news release)

FMI: kingaerospace.com