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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: F.S. Air: Five star performance in niche air charter market
Susan Braund Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
Climb high, climb far, your goal the sky, your aim the star.” The inscription on the Hopkins Memorial Steps at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., could easily have been written for Anchorage-based F.S. Air Service Inc.
Like the five stars in its logo, F.S. Air claims its own piece of the sky. Although there have been downdrafts along the way, including the death of owner Floyd Saltz in 1998, the company has continued to grow and prides itself in finding and filling unique and overlooked niches in passenger, freight and Haz-Mat charters. Niche after niche, star after star With a single Piper Aerostar and a set of walkie-talkies, Floyd and Sandi Saltz reached for that first star — starting the company in 1986 — operating business-oriented charters. Then, with air taxi certificate in hand, they began regular trips to St. George Island, and signed contracts with state forestry and the Federal Aviation Administration. “Business was sporadic at first,” says Sandra Saltz Butler. “But Floyd never, ever, said it couldn’t be done.”
The purchase of a Volpar and a Sky Van in 1989 during the Exxon Valdez oil spill bumped the company to a new level, opening the door to a contract with UPS hauling freight from Kodiak, Kenai and Homer and operating runs to the gold mines at Illinois Creek and Nixon Fork. A Fed Ex contract in ’93 followed. The Fed Ex and UPS contracts are still intact today.
Continuing to diversify, they added a scheduled run five days a week to Stony River, Crooked Creek, Sleetmute and Red Devil in single engine 207s and Navajos from 1994-96.
A Department of Transportation “essential air service” subsidy prompted the charter company to purchase a hangar and office in Seward and to provide scheduled runs from Anchorage to Seward. “But, even with the subsidy there was not enough passenger or freight traffic to warrant the service and make it profitable,” says company Butler, the company’s president. “However, we still own a fuel sales business in the community.”
Adding a Learjet 35 passenger jet to its fleet in the early ‘90s allowed F.S. Air to enter the medevac arena. The company started Aeromed International and hired its own medical director and staff and embarked on an independent medevac venture. But, after trying it for about a year, they found themselves squeezed out by the hospitals. Undaunted, Floyd hooked up with Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corp. to provide statewide medevac services. He sold Aeromed International to the corporation for a small fee in exchange for a five-year medevac flying contract through September 2003.
For the last three years, F.S. Air has provided medevac services to Alaska Regional Hospital. “Precise timing is essential with medevac operations,” says Operations Vice President Jeremiah “JT” Thibodeaux. “We average 70 hours a month, averaging 48 minutes from initial call to door closed. You only have an hour. It’s all about timing: you must have the equipment ready, dispatch the pilots, planes and supplies, and be ready and able to safely do it 365 days a year.”
Long-term clients are a good indicator of positive performance. Every Saturday during the summer months for the last seven years, F.S. Air has hauled fishermen and gear to the Goodnews River Lodge in Goodnews Bay. The Casa is capable of hauling up to 19 passengers with almost 2,000 pounds of gear. Business interrupted The 1998 death of owner-pilot Floyd Saltz brought a period of regrouping. The business stayed in the family as Sandi Saltz, now Sandi Butler, took the reins as company president. In 2002 her son, JT, joined her as operations vice president. JT began his F.S. Air career sweeping floors at a young age, then worked his way through maintenance, became an A and P mechanic and eventually director of maintenance. “Recovering from Floyd’s death took us a while,” says Butler, “but his can-do attitude is ingrained in the company, so we’ve rebounded well. We’re healthy.”
Hitching to yet another star, F.S. Air recently entered into an extended contract with the Department of Defense to transport people to remote locations, radar sites and military installations.
“We have a good reputation with the FAA, and meet DOD requirements which are even more stringent than FAA’s,” says Operations Manager Scott Anderson. “They came in for a full blown audit, and left smiling, saying they do not see many companies in the Lower 48 who have responded as we have.”
Staying competitive and trying to be the best while still maintaining quality training and safety programs is the company’s biggest challenge. “With the oil industry slowdown, we’ve had to cultivate other markets, find other unfilled niches,” says Anderson. “This winter we transported employees of Westward Seafoods to Dutch Harbor for opilio crab fishing, and we’re always scouting for new opportunities.” Safety over economics F.S. Air goes to great lengths in the name of safety.
“We actively participate in the Medallion Foundation program, a five-step plan to increase safety and aviation awareness in Alaska, designed to bring the accident rate down. You’ve probably heard Senator Stevens urging people to fly with Medallion-accredited carriers,” says Butler.
The company has an in-depth safety program administered by a full time in-house safety manager, Jerry Reed. All the F.S. Air pilots are sim-based trained, attending a costly five-day training refresher yearly. Over the years, the company has received the FAA Diamond Award, the Alaska Air Carrier Safety Award, and the Medallion Star Award.
To ensure quality and safety, F.S. Air established an in house Internal Evaluation Program. The program evaluator, Danielle Anselm, constantly monitors processes and procedures and finds weak links in the system. Reporting directly to the president, Anselm reports potential safety problems immediately.
Three years ago the business inaugurated a risk assessment program. “We follow it to a T,” says Anderson. “There are numerical values assigned to conditions, which are then totaled — things like weather conditions, terrain, precipitation, pilot’s personal problems, or hours flown recently. We evaluate the safety of every flight.”
“If it’s ever a question of safety, we won’t go,” says Butler. “There are times when we’ll lose a flight and other operators will go, but if that numerical index is too high, we don’t fly.” Maintenance The F.S. Air fleet, a Lear 25 and Lear 35, Metro III, Metro 23, Merlin III B and Casa 212, is maintained at the company’s Part 145 Repair Station, an FAA designation that allows the company to do outside maintenance repairs up to, but not including, overhaul.Stellar service F.S. Air’s 24-hour dispatch system sets them apart. This personalized service assists customers with flight planning and weather information. “You reach a live person here at all times,” say Anderson. “We don’t even have an answering machine!”
Real time flight tracking is a definite plus. “You can see where our planes are at all times, know the arrival schedule, altitude, ground speed and time of destination,” explains Anderson. “Right after 9-11, everything was quiet. There was nothing on the screen. We were the first back into the air on a medevac trip. It felt like I was out there by myself — kind of eerie.”
“We not only charter within Alaska but can charter any where the customer desires,” states the company slogan. “Whether it’s for corporate business, leisure, hunting or group travels, F.S. Air will get you there!”
So for your worldwide passenger and freight charter needs, go with a star — F.S. Air Inc.
Editor’s note: Susan Braund owns Firestar Media Services in Anchorage, Alaska.
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