If there’s one thing I’ve learned in business, it’s that you have to spend money to make money. At Leading Edge, we’ve spent the past 20 years investing in new infrastructure, state-of-the-art equipment, increasing our capacity nationwide, and building long-term partnerships with the world’s top airlines.
Two decades later, as the industry enters a new era of consolidation; that strategy is paying off. Like us, our partners know that realizing the true value of a merger means not just revamping their name, but the entire look of their aircraft. And nobody has painted more aircraft for more airlines than Leading Edge.
In the past few years, we’ve shown the world that we’ve got what it takes to respond to even the most challenging projects and demanding timelines.
Case in point – in 2010 we completed a staggering 350 aircraft in just 14 months for the new Northwest/Delta merger. That’s 350 on top of the hundreds more we paint each year for other airlines, the military, and special one-off projects like the F/A-18 Hornet flown by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, now housed at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
So how are we making all this happen? It’s been a steady combination of efficiency and growth. In Amarillo, we’re adding 100 new positions to beef up capacity, we just opened a remodeled hangar that handles even bigger aircraft, and we’re opening a new regional headquarters to keep things on track.
In California, we added over 100 positions to our Victorville facility which now operates around the clock, 365 days a year. And to attract and keep talent, we’re working with the city to launch a new home-buyer’s program to get employees into new homes faster than ever before.
Down south in Mississippi, we’ve inked a long-term deal to lease a new hanger and have purchased a new commercial building located across the street from the future site of a new federal building. The new building will have a restaurant, bar and a number of amenities to service the company’s growing workforce in the Greenville community.
And for those customers who are better serviced at their own hangars, we launched a highly-skilled away-team or “A-Team” that brings our world-class painting service right to their door.
As a result of these investments, Leading Edge 2009 and 2010 have been the biggest years yet for Leading Edge. Volume is up. Revenues are up. But most importantly, spirits are up as Leading Edge continues to raise the industry bar in terms of performance, service and excellence.
The truth is, no aircraft painting company has ever enjoyed the capacity and flexibility and reliability provided by Leading Edge.
As we move into 2011, it is with great pleasure that use this capacity to help customers like United and Continental ease the transition of their newly-formed partnership. We’ve been working with the airlines for nearly ten years. And over the next 30 months, we’ll see more than 350 aircraft emerging from our hangars with United’s new livery. On behalf of everyone at Leading Edge, we thank United and Continental for their continued business, and look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.
Sincerely,
Mike Manclark.
About Leading Edge Aviation Services
Headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., with facilities across the United States, Leading Edge Aviation Services, Inc. is one of the most advanced, commercial aircraft services companies in the world. Specializing in commercial, private, and military aircraft painting, the company also provides a wide range of commercial services, including complete interior refurbishments fuel system servicing, mod-center support, contract labor, line-turn maintenance, composite and sheet metal, long and short term aircraft storage, field audits, fleet assessments, interior deep cleaning, and strip and painting services to various branches of the United States Military. For more information, click here.
