FAA-certified aircraft repair station opens
Sh oK ass am' s love for aviation began as a teenage aircraft repair apprentice at a maintenance facility in his native Mombasa, Kenya.
Later, he became an American citizen and traded in his wrenches for a pilot's controls before settling on balance sheets as the owner of Oklahoma Aviation. Kassam readily relies on his family's entrepreneurial spirit when it comes to identifying good commerce opportunities.
Already the owner of Oklahoma's most modern fleet of charter and training aircraft based at Wiley Post Airport in Bethany, Kass am said he always has dreamed of somehow returning to his first love in aviation — repairing and maintaining airplanes.
After meeting Oklahoman Justin Covalt five years ago, Kassam said he realized the Textron Aviation Inc. Airframe and Powerplant certified mechanic and inspector would bean ideal business partner to work with in creating a local FAA-certified aircraft repair station and maintenance facility near Oklahoma Aviation' s home base.
But only if he could talk Covalt into it.
“We started talking about partnering last summer, but it was a tough decision for him to leave an established company and a well-paying jobi nor de rt oventure out into the world of entrepreneurship ,” Kassam said. “He said `no' at first but didn't miss the opportunity the second time when asked a few months later.”
The pair now co-own
Avion Aero Holdings LLC, the state' s only Astra, Beech craft, Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond and Piper aircraft specialized maintenance facility. The partners recently signed a long-term lease for the use of a 30,000 squarefoot hangar at Wiley Post Airport, and the onestop shop is now open for business.
Covalt also is a pilot and a factory- certified mechanic and inspector with more than 19 years
of experience. He manages the factory floor and day-to-day operations, while Kassam focuses on business development strategies.
Avion Aero Holdings offers services from oil and filter changes to annual inspections to scheduled and unscheduled aircraft maintenance. Its turbine aircraft specialties include the Cessna Citation ( 510, 525, 560, 680 and 750 series) and the Beechcraft King Air (90, 200 and 300 series). Both owners agree t he central Oklahoma location should save local aircraft owners time and money when they need services.
Raised in Woodward, Covalt graduated f rom Carl Albert High School in Midwest City before attending a regional vocational school.
Covalt said the key to Avion Aero's success is the personal relationship she and their team are continuing to build with corporate flight departments and private aircraft owners and pilots.
“Customers really want to deal with a limited amount of people,” he said. “They want someone they can call any time and who knows their loved ones' names. Such personal relationships can't be duplicated in such a
large setting, so you' re not just a number here at Avion Aero Holdings."
The company performs maintenance on piston and turbine aircraft and is an FAA-certified repair station with a mobile service unit, Kassam said.
“I foresee in a year from now that we'll be investing in and improving our tooling capabilities and training our personnel to stay on the cutting-edge of the forefront of this technology evolution,” he said .“By deployi ng and adapting more technology, we'll be able to provide an increase in safety margin sand efficiencies.”