by admin on Sep 22, 2011, under Uncategorized
Bookings Soar Bolstered by Major Fleet Contracts and New Hangars
Leading Edge Aviation Services (LEAS), the world’s largest aircraft painting company has shattered an industry record today, painting more than 400 aircraft in the first half of 2011. Bolstered by contracts from newly-merged airlines such as United and Delta, the company is reporting a record increase in bookings over last year, adding two new facilities in the process – one in Dallas, and another in Miami to keep up with demand.
“The numbers are in, and the message is clear. Nobody paints more aircraft for more airlines than Leading Edge,” said Mike Manclark, CEO, LEAS. “This is a true global milestone that we’ve worked toward for over 25 years, and we’re extremely proud of our team for their dedication and tenacity in making us the world’s best.”
With a total of seven facilities located in California, Mississippi, Texas, Florida and South Carolina, Leading Edge has the highest capacity of any commercial aircraft painting company in the world. As the industry’s largest and fastest-growing choice for global fleets, the company has been on a path of continuous growth since 1989, completing over 570 aircraft in 2010 alone.
“With strong bookings for the remainder of the year, and a push into new markets like VIP conversions, 2011 should be a banner year for Leading Edge,” added Manclark. “We`re more focused than ever on our customers, offering everything from new interiors to fuel-system maintenance to minimize downtime. It`s a tremendous value in today`s competitive landscape, and the market is clearly responding. We look forward to working with all of our customers in what we hope is another period of successful growth, unmatched served and commitment.
by admin on May 13, 2011, under Uncategorized
Leading Edge Selected to Paint New Boeing 787’s from South Carolina
Leading Edge
Leading Edge Aviation Services the largest commerical aircraft painting company in the world has been selected by The Boeing Company to provide the final painting and livery applications for all 787’s being delivered from the company’s new 787 Final Assembly & Delivery facility in North Charleston, South Carolina. The news means some big changes at Leading Edge’s Amarillo, TX facility, which has undertaken custom upgrades to its wide-body hangars to accommodate this very special aircraft from one of its newest customers.
“Its not every day that you get to be a part of something this historic,” said Mike Manclark, CEO of Leading Edge. “Boeing is a global leader in terms of quality and reliability, so this speaks volumes about our ability to outperform our competition, and work with the very best.”
He credits the company’s 20-year history of making thousands of quality aircraft deliveries to making the Boeing dream a reality. “I’m really proud of our staff for putting so much focus on quality and performance,” he added. “Together, we’ve made Leading Edge the painting partner of choice for aircraft of all shapes and sizes. We are proud to join Boeing on this historic contract, and look forward to working with them in the years ahead.” (more…)
by admin on May 4, 2011, under Uncategorized
Mike Manclark, CEO, Leading Edge Aviation Services
Leading Edge Aviation Services, the world’s largest commercial aircraft painting company, announced that it’s CEO, Mike Manclark is a semi-finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 Award. According to Ernst & Young LLP, the awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Manclark was selected as a semi-finalist by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on June 11 at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach.
Manclark started the company over 20 years ago as a small aircraft detailing business at John Wayne Airport. Since then, he’s grown the company into the largest commercial aircraft painting company in the world with over 1300 employees from coast-to-coast that service over 600 aircraft a year. Today, no company paints more aircraft for more airlines than Leading Edge.
“Orange County has always been a hotbed of entrepreneurial spirit, so to be recognized amongst the area’s many successes is a real honor,” said Manclark. “This is a great place to live, work, and do business, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it. We thank the judges for their consideration, and look forward to participating in the awards gala this summer.”
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 140 cities and over 50 countries throughout the world.
Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year national program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 12, 2011. The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies, and is held from November 9-13, 2011.
About Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards Program
Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The award makes a difference through the unique way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.
Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited located in the U.S.
by admin on Jan 18, 2011, under Uncategorized
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.
by admin on Nov 12, 2010, under Leading Edge Aviation Press Release
GREEENVILLE, MS. NOV 12, 2010. There’s a major infusion of growth coming to Greenville, thanks to a $40M expansion plan from Leading Edge Aviation Services (LEAS). The California-based company announced today it is tripling its Mississippi workforce and adding $1.6-million a year to its local payroll after signing a long-term lease for a new hangar and purchasing a new commercial building across from the proposed new Federal Building.
As part of the company’s aggressive global expansion, Leading Edge has purchased the former “One Block East” building, which will now serve as its regional headquarters for Greenville’s management and sales staff. The new hangar space, located at the Mid Delta Greenville Airport, will also undergo a major transformation, as it will now be equipped with the latest aircraft painting technologies, serving some of the biggest airlines in the country, if not the world.
“This is a pivotal investment for the community of Greenville,” said Mike Manclark, CEO, Leading Edge. “In a global economy, communities need to rally together to create a clear vision for the future, and carve out plans to own a niche market. It’s about doing one thing, and doing better than anyone else in the world. And with the right infrastructure and community support, we think Greenville can emerge as a center of excellence for commercial and military aviation services”
Since first coming to Greenville in 2003, Leading Edge has been a hub of aviation excellence, painting thousands of aircraft locally for airlines such as Continental, Delta, UPS and many others. In recent years, the company has grown to dominate the aircraft painting market, and now has its sights on gaining a foothold on the interiors market as well.
“We’re looking for new people in every facet of the business to make this work,” adds Manclark. “We’re confident that with everything Greenville has to offer, this represents a great investment for not only for our company, but our clients as well. It’s a win-win situation that keeps Mississippians in good jobs and our customers in good hands.”
The expanded hangar space will mean that capacity at the Greenville location will now increase by providing room for an additional aircraft per year. Despite the recent acquisition of the hangar, the company says it is already booked to near capacity with new contracts from airlines such as Mesaba, Pinnacle, Delta and Compass.
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, visit www.leadingedgecorp.com.
