Business Was In Foreclosure Following The Death Of Its Founder Last Year

A longtime FBO at Central Illinois Regional Airport (KBMI) in Bloomington, IL has closed after 46 years in business. Image Air closed last Friday following a sheriff's sale of the business for $1.8 million.

The Pantagraph newspaper reports that the family of Kenneth Rittenhouse, who founded Image Air in 1973 when he bought Clark Aviation at the airport, decided that the business should be sold following Rittenhouse's unexpected death on January 12, 2019.

A MeClean County Circuit Judge issued a foreclosure order on November 18. TDL Managing LLC purchased the business with a high bid of $1.8 million at a sheriff's sale on January 8. That sale is pending confirmation by the court, according to the report.

TDL has contracted with Synergy Flight Services LLC, which has been operating an FBO and flight school at KBMI since 2013, to operate the former Image Air facilities.

TCL and Image Air issued a joint statement saying Image Air was relinquishing possession of the business location at the close of business Friday. “The opportunity to allow airfield services to continue was our goal when we transferred possession," added Heather Causer, Rittenhouse's daughter, who managed Image Air, in the statement. "The existing FBO, Synergy Flight Center LLC, can offer the services that our customers have grown accustomed to receiving."

FMI: Source report