Winner Aviation continues takeoff
By Kalea Hall
VIENNA
It’s a typical morning at Winner Aviation.
There’s a calming roar from the planes as workers in safety high lighter jackets direct them under a blue sky.
The workers don’t let the chilled air bother their workflow – typical of the often-noted hard-working Mahoning Valley.
But Winner’s presence isn’t just here at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. The company’s ground handling can be seen at five other U.S. airports.
The Vienna-based company also manages planes and charters them for private customers.
“I like to describe [Winner Aviation] as a full aviation-services company,” Neil Gallagher, president of Winner Aviation. “A lot of [aviation-services companies] don’t have the list of services we do.”
Winner’s history in the Valley goes back to 1946 when Beckett Aviation started. For the next three decades, Beckett Aviation operated the largest fleet of privately owned planes in the country.
The company was eventually sold, and during the 1990s Winner took over, but a presence from Beckett is still there.
“We even have some employees who started way back then,” Gallagher said.
Today, Winner, a full-service fixed-base operator, offers maintenance, repair and overhaul and runs a private-charter department in 85,000 square feet of hangars and office space at the airport.
Locally, there are 80 employed at Winner, but the company employs about 160 people overall.
The maintenance department has service centers for jets, turboprops and pistons.
The company also provides avionics installation and repair, turbine-engine repair and overhaul and hard-to-find parts.
Winner also does ground handling, which includes luggage handling and covering the ticket counter.
“We have been expanding in the ground-handling department,” Gallagher said.
The charter services side of the business also has grown. The company has a flight department with pilot services and aircraft charter available anytime. Winner manages three planes for private entities that are used for charter services, and the company owns one plane it charters. It would like to have three more planes to manage for private entities.
“It was a one-plane department not more than five years ago,” said Mike Hillman, director of flight operations at Winner, who is responsible for the pilots and the managed aircraft.
This year, Winner became a Gateway Airport for general-aviation aircraft wanting to fly into Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Corporate-flight departments based in other cities must clear a Transportation Security Administration inspection in a Gateway City and hire an armed air marshal before landing at Reagan in Washington.
The company is preparing for the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for July 18-21 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
“We plan to provide shuttle services and charter services,” Gallagher said. “Because of the overflow, they won’t be able to fly directly in.”
Winner expects to see 75 planes come in daily during the convention.
Winner and the airport already saw an impact in the presidential race when Republican nominee Donald Trump came to the town for a speech at the airport before Ohio’s March 15 primary.
“It was actually amazing,” Gallagher said. “It was an amazing process to watch them transition our hangar into a production stage.”
In June, daily service provided by Aerodynamics Inc. to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport will bring more activity for Winner.
“It brings a lot of commerce and activity to the area,” Gallagher said. “It allows us to draw from a different clientele now. Now we have a larger audience.”