Plane refurbisher to lease LR hangar

An Arkansas company that refurbishes aircraft interiors and exteriors is expanding its state footprint in a bid to be more competitive nationally and even globally, its owner said Tuesday.

Afterglow Aircraft Solutions, a 9-year-old Fayetteville-based company, will lease a hangar at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/ Adams Field, beginning Feb. 1.

The hangar, known as Building 400, is part of the former Hawker Beechcraft completion center, now called the Airport Business Park, and has been vacant for several years. The hangar is specifically designed to accommodate aircraft exterior painting.

Afterglow, under a fiveyear lease agreement approved Tuesday by the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, will take over the 31,925-square-foot hangar in three phases by Aug. 1, 2021, at which time it will pay $111,265.25 annually for the hangar, based on current airport lease rates.

“A facility like this allows us to challenge the larger players in the national and even global market, really, for aircraft completions,” said Jonathan Rose, the owner of Afterglow. “There’s nothing like it around, so it’s really good.”

Rose comes from a family aviation background. His father owns and operates Rose Aircraft Services, an aircraft refurbishment company that has operated in Mena since 1964.

Afterglow has facilities at five airports, including two in Arkansas — Fayetteville and Springdale. It also has facilities at two airports in Shreveport and one in Tulsa.

Rose said his company had

outgrown its space in Northwest Arkansas and that the paint hangar at Clinton National was a good fit while the lease allowed his company to ease into the new space over time. Also attractive was a workforce already skilled in aircraft refurbishment and detailing and several company customers based at the airport, he said.

Refurbishing private and business aircraft is a popular option among aircraft buyers who don’t want to make a capital investment in a new plane.

Refurbishment also becomes an option when aircraft are down for required maintenance and inspections.

The deal came together in a little over a month, with an assist from Thomas “Mack” McLarty, a businessman who was the first chief of staff in the Clinton White House.

McLarty, an aircraft owner, is an Afterglow customer and put the company’s executives in touch with the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, according to Josh Spielmaker, the Afterglow general manager.

“We’ve done work on his aircraft, and when he found out what we were doing, he was excited to be part,” Spielmaker said.

Among those in the audience for Tuesday’s commission meeting was new Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.

“It has everything to do with jobs,” Scott said when asked the reason for his presence. “I talked about a lot on the campaign about unifying the city, about real change. But I also talked about job growth, so I’m happy that on the 15th day of me being in the administration, we’ve already [attracted] 60 jobs to Little Rock by utilizing available space at the Little Rock airport.”

For Clinton National, landing Afterglow is part of an effort that is reshaping the Hawker Beechcraft facility, which no longer has to rely on one tenant to fill the complex of hangars and offices.

In 2016, the airport landed a deal that lured a maintenance facility for Envoy Air, an American Airlines subsidiary, to lease part of a hangar. It also employs about 60 people.

Also in the complex is Lynx Air, which provides services to general aviation aircraft. Last year, Lynx acquired its predecessor, Fly Arkansas, which opened its Clinton National operation in 2015.

“In the long run, we’re going to be much better off than to be dangling with one company,” said Ron Mathieu, the airport’s executive director. “That diversity of revenue is a great comfort to the commission and to the employees who are going to end up working there.”