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| Money | This story published online: Saturday, December 11, 2004 11:35 PM CST |
Lack of business grounds Decatur Aviation after 40 years
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The company has provided refueling, maintenance facilities and a host of other services at Decatur Airport and can trace its history back over 40 years. But when its latest 10-year lease runs out on Dec. 31, Decatur Aviation is ready to taxi into history.
Company President Jim Smiley says there just isn't enough traffic at the airport anymore to make aircraft maintenance services pay. He was willing to continue refueling operations but he says the Decatur Park District, which owns the airport, wants aircraft maintenance to be part of any lease deal.
"There is no animosity here, I agree with them that maintenance needs to be provided at the airport," said Smiley, who has owned the company for 20 years. "But I can't afford to do it. I've sold assets and dipped into my own money to keep things going until the end of my lease. I've lost over $400,000 in the last four years providing these services and, like I said, I just can't afford to do this anymore."
The Park District says it is working hard to find a company to take over the lease, and will discuss the issue Wednesday, Dec. 15. District officials remain hopeful they can find a new lease operator but, in a last resort, would be willing to consider at least running the fuel operation itself.
"But that would be an absolute last resort," said Executive Director Bill Clevenger. "Services like this have been provided well by the private sector and, frankly, we'd like to see it continue in the private sector."
"I'm the only one who doesn't really have anything to go to yet," said Smiley.
It's all a far cry from the soaring glory days of the company when, as recently as the late 1990s, it had a crew of 35 pilots, mechanics, refuelers and other personnel and was a $6 million a year gross revenue business with a fleet of 13 aircraft. It offered a wide range of services, including flight instruction and taught many pilots to fly who went on to glittering careers in the commercial aviation industry.
Smiley said the wind beneath the wings of all this activity was a heavy load of charter work. Companies such as A.E. Staley Mfg. Co. and Illinois Power Co. had their main headquarters in Decatur and generated a lot of lucrative business with executives who needed to be flown all over the country.
"That's where we made the profits," said Smiley. "That's where we made the money that supported other things like aircraft maintenance and teaching people how to fly, areas that were never very profitable."
As corporate headquarters shifted out of Decatur and other companies vanished off the radar altogether, Smiley says the charter business went into a steep nosedive.
"What happened in this town was terrible," he said. "But I've spoken with many other companies like mine in other cities, and they all tell similar stories."
Smiley said he's been gradually shedding planes, equipment and staff in recent years. Among the pilots to go was Kevin Osborne, son of Decatur Mayor Paul Osborne, who learned to fly with Decatur Aviation and became a professional pilot. "Kevin was my chief pilot until early this summer when I had to lay him off due to the fact there was no business for him," said Smiley.
"He's an exceptional professional and now flies for a similar company to mine over in Champaign. But he'd stayed with me and been loyal to this company for years until it got to where we could no longer keep him, and that broke my heart."
The Park District acknowledges business circumstances have changed over the years, and Clevenger says turbulence in the airline business has hurt everyone.
"Look at the number of major airlines that are either in bankruptcy or teetering on the brink of it," he said. "The whole state of aviation is in constant flux, constantly evolving."
But Clevenger believes there is still a strong role for the Decatur Airport with its regular passenger service and commercial and private flights. "We have a solid core group of users," he added. "We see that as fairly stable and continuing and that is one of the reasons we think it's so important to provide fuel and some kind of maintenance operation. We're now working everyday to get things lined up- so that we will be able to provide the services people have come to know and expect."
Chris Riley, president of the Park District board, said he understood there are companies interested in the lease and discussions were going ahead with them. "We see those airport services as critical, and we're doing our darndest to ensure they are provided," he added.
Tony Reid can be reached at treid@;herald-review.com or 421-7977.
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