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Airport News, "United Air Group sees blue skies at Allegheny County Airport"
Wednesday, October 13, 1999
United Air Group sees blue skies at Allegheny County Airport
By Joyce Gannon, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Philip Ehrman relishes the site of a maintenance worker pushing a cleaning
machine across the floor of an empty hangar at the Allegheny County Airport.
First off, it means the hangar, owned by his company, United Air Group,
should be in tip-top condition by the time the next plane taxis in. More
importantly, an unoccupied hangar means planes are flying and generating
revenue for United Air, a newly created business that's attempting to carve
out a niche as the dominant supplier of air charter services in the
Pittsburgh region.
United Air was formed Oct.1 through the merger of Corporate Air Management
Inc. and Davis Air Inc., 10-year-old charter businesses based at the county
airport in West Mifflin. The merged entity also acquired the charter
division of Butler Air Inc. of Butler County.
United Air manages a fleet of 22 small planes -- four turboprops and 18
jets -- for corporations and individuals, providing services from fuel to
pilots for well-heeled customers who want to fly worldwide.
United Air owns only a handful of the planes, and won't disclose the names
of the private owners of the rest. But its clients are generally corporate
executives and private individuals who want to travel to perhaps one or more
destinations in a single day, and who want to pick their own flight times.
"The people who like to fly us are wealthy; they don't want to be tied to
commercial schedule," said Gary Davis, 59, a vice president of United Air
and founder of Davis Air.
Last weekend, for example, United Air arranged a Sunday night flight for a
customer who needed to get to Europe on emergency business.
United Air flies an average 15 to 20 flights a day, with an average trip of
2 1/2 hours. The typical hourly rate for a United Air charter ranges from
$1,200 to $2,800.
"That's very efficient for carrying an executive and perhaps four or five
people with him to a couple cities in a day," said Ehrman. Catered food is
served on the flight if customers ask for it. Another perk: United Air
cleans and parks the passengers' cars while they're in the air.
A licensed pilot, Davis launched Davis Air as a charter-leasing business. It
had 30 employees by the time Davis began merger talks with Corporate Air
earlier this year.
The much larger Corporate Air had 90 employees and has been the sole
provider of fuel at the county airport since it bought the fuel business of
rival Corporate Jets Inc.
Ehrman, 45, is an attorney from Washington County who joined Corporate Air
full-time in 1996 and is now a vice president of United Air.
Corporate Air was founded by Frank Yarussi and Mark Schreiner. Yarussi, a
Washington County physician, is now president of United Air but doesn't
participate in day-to-day management. Schreiner is executive vice president.
Another shareholder is Angelo Falconi, a prominent Washington County
businessman who recently invested in the Penguins.
Before the merger, Corporate Air's estimated annual revenues were $12
million with 60 percent of that total generated by management and charter
fees, 30 percent by plane fueling and 10 percent by plane maintenance,
Ehrman said.
The combined company owns eight hangars, including the former Westinghouse
Electric hangar acquired two months ago, and several storage facilities.
United Air sees a growing market for its charter management services because
many big corporations that own planes no longer want to maintain their own
flight departments. It also tries to generate extra revenue by chartering
the aircraft to other customers when the owners aren't flying.
Beyond keeping planes in the air, United Air wants to add services and
amenities to its business that will help boost the county airport's image
among potential clients and generate more flights from the nearly
70-year-old facility. Those amenities may be a restaurant, travel agency and
fitness center.
A plan by the county to privatize the 432-acre airport fell through last
year. That proposal called for a California company to manage the airport
and develop a restaurant, office condominiums and a cargo handling operation
at the site.
"We need a restaurant and some sprucing up out here," said Davis.
"Technically it's great. We've got snow removal, air traffic controllers.
But it's up to us to make it an attraction."
Attached Photo: Airport Map
19991013airportmap.gif
