Professional Pilot, January 2016

Averitt Air was the 1st company to earn the ARGUS Platinum rating the highest charter service rating possible ARGUS is an independent rating system that looks at an aircraft operators actual safety history and produces a grade Averitt Air maintained this certification for several years before moving to ISO certification and dropping ARGUS to avoid duplicate audits In 2004 the company became ISO 9001certified and has now incorporated its safety management system SMS into its ISO procedures Future plans are to keep the repair station under ISO and recertify the charter operation under ARGUS and ISBAO Consulting services As an owner operator itself Averitt Air knows the various aspects of business aviation inside and out Therefore all Averitt team members are on some level consultants for the company From the executive team leaders to pilots and mechanics everyone helps to provide expert advice and education to existing and potential customers From questions about aircraft services and trends to in depth analytics of charter vs ownership the team at Averitt Air seeks to help customers make educated decisions best suited to their unique needs Pilot selection Guy York is Averitt Airs captain and check airman York began his aviation career at 19 as a line service tech at an FBO where he also apprenticed as an A P and later earned his IA He 64 PROFESSIONAL PILOT January 2016 began his flight training in 1987 Prior to joining Averitt Air he worked as a chief pilot for Cooper Hosiery Mills for 19 years After this time he provided contract work as a Citation 525 pilot and supplemented as an aircraft appraiser and A P mechanic In 2010 York graduated from Troy University in Alabama with a degree in business admin He joined Averitt Air in 2009 as a Citation captain and Learjet FO He was subsequently type rated in the Learjet 45 and became a captain and instructor York has logged about 8000 flight hours Averitt Airs new hirees receive inhouse FO training in both the Learjet 45 and the Phenom 100 The needs of the flight dept as well as the capabilities of the pilot determine when they move up to captain and go to the Bombardier training facility in Dallas for their type ratings We dont promote pilots by seniority Instead we recognize them when they demonstrate captain qualities and capabilities York states FOs cross over from the Learjet 45 to the Phenom but they try to keep captains specific to type All pilots fly both Part 91 and 135 missions and abide by charter ops rules and crew duty times regardless Part 135 flights tend to be day trips while Part 91 trips often include overnights Averitt Air pilots fly an average of 350 hours per year Additional Averitt divisions Pennant Aviation an investment arm of Averitt Air is located in Memphis TN Pennant was developed to buy sell and part out old Part 121 aircraft Some of the aircraft they have purchased to date include Airbus A310s and A320s Boeing B767s and a 747 400 from Air France Pennant teams up with a company in Memphis that dismantles these old airliners in northwest Florida On Tour Logistics is a full service transportation solution uniquely suited to the entertainment industry OTL is a 1 stop shop that provides all aspects of transportation from trucks to haul equipment to buses and aircraft to transport movie tv Broadway and music entertainers OTL has increased its business at a rate of 400 a year since its inception in 2013 Conclusion From its humble beginnings as a small trucking company 58 years ago Averitt Express is today a total transportation solutions provider with the goal of creating customized solutions to meet the specific transportation needs of a variety of customers Both Averitt Express and Averitt Air take great pride in working to solve complicated transportation challenges for companies and individuals operating in both domestic and international areas In the cockpit of an Averitt Learjet 45 are Captain and Check Airman Guy York who joined Averitt Air in 2009 with FO Susan Wright who flies Learjet 45s and Phenom 100s Cindy Youngblood holds an ATP license and is type rated in the BE400 CE500 and CE560XL She has extensive experience in both Part 91 corporate and Part 135 charter ops David Groth Averitt A P mechanic and factory trained Learjet technician inspects an aircrafts emergency engine fire bottles for proper installation A P Justin Odell a factory trained Learjet technician conducts an inspection of the nose avionics bay on a Learjet 45 owned by Averitt