NEWS

Like most things in life, aviation and the FBO business has changed over time. I sometimes hear from employees and customers that “it’s not like the old days” before the world of FBO consolidation.

I have a little bit of a different history with Atlantic than most employees. Long before my current role in Atlantic, I was an FBO owner. I was one of those mom-and-pop FBOs. While I have fond memories of those days, as I look at the landscape today, I can honestly say things are much better today for both our employees and our customers.

As an owner I had great people working for me with little room for advancement. With Atlantic there is no limit to what an employee can do or how far they can advance. The sky is the limit. The benefits available in the old days were bare bones as compared to what is available today. A company our size has buying power and access to top-notch health plans, employee assistance, as well as 401ks.

As an owner I found myself praying that we didn’t have an accident and hoped we were safe. With Atlantic we continually invest and train in our policies, procedures, and our people to ensure we are safe each and every day. Safety first is not a slogan it is how we live!

As an owner I operated a mismatched fleet of trucks and equipment. With Atlantic we have invested millions of dollars to ensure we not only have the right equipment for the right job, but we also have the best equipment for the job. Our fleet gets better and newer every day. This translates to better service for the customer and a better day at work for our employees.

As an owner I preached top-notch customer service to our hand full of employees to make sure our FBO in our little piece of the world stood out above the rest. With Atlantic we teach and practice top notch customer service throughout our system. I believe we provide equal or better customer service than we did in the old days, but with the Atlantic platform we can do it across the country, every day at every location. I know two things; while we continue to strive to perfect our customer service we have improved our customer experience while improving the quality of life of our employees.

So looking back on these last 15 years I agree that things aren’t like the old days. I can honestly say they are better. I wouldn’t trade a single moment to go back to the old days!