Aircraft Solutions, formerly XN Air, seeks to be a one-stop shop for private and commercial pilots
By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
It's the perfect location for an airplane maintenance shop: right off the runway of Spokane International Airport, the shop's 10,000 square foot hangar bay holds at least half a dozen small planes at once.
That's why the shop—at 8125 W. Pilot Dr.—succeeded for six years as part of XN Air. And it's also part of the reason Matt Brown and Bill Ifft decided to purchase the business when it went up for sale last year.
Ifft is also the owner of Free Press Publishing, owners of the Cheney Free Press.
But Brown and Ifft had some changes in mind, starting with the name. Aircraft Solutions, which officially opened Jan. 3, is aiming to be a one-stop shop for private and commercial pilots.
The business offers maintenance service for small and medium-sized planes—from the smallest single-engine piston plane to the corporate jet. But they've also added upholstery, avionics and detailing to the menu, as well as updating the lobby, adding a conference room and leather furniture. There's wireless Internet and the receptionist can schedule car rentals for customers. Ifft said the changes are aimed to set Aircraft Solutions apart from the stereotypical shop.
“Other shops, they're like a garage where you go to get your car fixed,” he said. “We want, when you come into our office, (to make sure) that you're greeted friendly, you're offered coffee, in a nice comfortable waiting room. We want to change the whole experience.”
The professional atmosphere is part of the business's aggressive approach to expanding the customer base, along with the ability to service a wide variety of planes. Brown and Ifft are aiming for 15-20 percent growth in 2012.
“The biggest change is the mindset,” Brown said. “We're not just working on airplanes as they're coming in the door.”
Brown, a Spokane resident and owner of Deer Park Air Center, worked as a flight instructor after leaving the Marines in 2005. Ifft and Brown met in 2009, brought together by their mutual interest in flying.
“I was having some work done on our airplane and he was in the process of buying his twin-engine, and so it ended up working out that I've done instruction for Bill for the last year and a half,” Brown said.
When the opportunity arose to buy the XN Air maintenance division, the men decided to use their business experience and airborne interest to create their own brand of airplane maintenance.
The deal, completed in December, included retaining most of the shop's employees and their customers. Aircraft Solutions currently employs nine mechanics, each with their own expertise. Brown said their customer base has started growing since the January opening, with a good mix of regular and new customers as well as a wide variety of planes.
Most of Aircraft Solutions' customers are owner-operators, Brown said. Small business owners often purchase small planes for business and personal use, he said.
Aircraft Solutions is one of a few private shops in the region that can handle the large corporate jets—the only one in the Inland Northwest, Ifft said—and last month they were working on planes from Seattle, Boise and Portland.
“Most of our single engine stuff comes from the local area,” Brown added.
Aircraft Solutions also sells airplane parts, but Brown said most of their business is on the maintenance side. Labor rates are $74 per hour for piston planes and $85 per hour for turbine engines.
For more information, visit http://www.aircraftsolutions.aero.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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