Midlands Business Journal • SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 •
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AVIATION A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal
September 4, 2020
Aviation industry looking to bounce back after pandemic disruptions by Dwain Hebda
Perseverance is the watchword for the local aviation industry as it, like similar entities across the country, works to rebound from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. “In 2019, over 5 million travelers flew through Eppley Airfield,” said Steve McCoy, director of air service and business development for the Omaha Airport Authority. “In April, traffic had decreased 95% from the same month last year. “By summer, travel and other restrictions began to loosen and we started to see traffic tick upward. In the first week of August, approximately 3,000 passengers were departing Eppley Airfield each day. While still down 61% from the Johnson year before, it is an improvement from the low in April.” To spur traffic along, the Airport Authority rolled out a safety campaign, TravelSafeOMA, to help instill peace of mind in travelers by introducing additional cleaning and sanitizer stations as well as enforcing social distancing measures. “This program demonstrates the commitment by the Omaha Airport Authority to provide a safe, healthy environment for travelers and visitors,” he said. “All the initiatives of TravelSafeOMA are aimed at building confidence in the travel experience for passengers looking to fly again.” Aviation-related companies have also felt the sting of the pandemic, including national service provider Duncan Aviation. “Duncan Aviation has been able to stay open at all of our main facilities, avionics satellites, and engine/airframe Rapid Response launch locations,” said Lori Johnson, marketing communications manager. “Our facilities are operating at full staff and we are staying busy meeting customer needs. We have certainly seen business levels drop, but not as significantly as we initially feared.” Johnson said as travel eventually increases, she expects the company’s workload to follow suit. “Understanding that the need and desire to travel will likely increase, we believe that business aircraft will be even more valuable,” she said. “We anticipate that there will be more demand for high-density aircraft interiors and other systems that will make having more people aboard business aircraft more productive and pleasant, like cabin management systems,
Omaha Airport Authority’s Steve McCoy, director of air service and business development, at Eppley Airfield. improved connectivity and floor plan alterations the company is upping its sanitation standards that provide room for more passengers.” to soothe client concerns over traveling. TAC Air–OMA has also seen its business “TAC Air quickly identified the risks and suffer due to cancellation of events, said Mike implemented cleaning and sanitization safety Wilwerding, general manager, however things measures along with employee shift assignhave started to turn around. In the meantime, ments to mitigate the situation limiting potential
exposure due to the pandemic,” he said. “Our first step was approaching all cleanliness and safety guidelines through our regular, rigorous standards and a team focus to make sure we met state, local and CDC guidelines. “As a part of that, TAC Air COVID-19 safety protocols were developed as a response. They can be found posted to the company website header on www.tacair.com. The safety and cleanliness of our executive terminal and hangars is a dynamic situation we are constantly tracking, following any updates to CDC, state and local guidelines and making appropriate adjustments as needed.” Wilwerding said he is looking for improvement in business through the end of the year, barring the unWilwerding foreseen. “The general aviation business at TAC Air-OMA continues to pick up, getting closer and closer to matching year over year volume. However, it has been a slow process,” he said. “We expected higher traffic volumes over the summer months, and although we are serving more customers, traffic has not matched last year’s numbers yet. Time will tell, but we believe general business aviation is poised to lead the way in future travel recovery.”
General aviation’s unique value proposition resonates in unpredictable environment along the way. by Michelle Leach “We give them the opportunity to safely It may be within the hard-hit travel and transportation industry, yet general aviation conduct travel,” he said. At the earlier stages of the pandemic, charis experiencing surprising bumps in demand for services, from drones to flight training and ter got an uptick in activity as travelers weren’t comfortable getting on commercial pilot recruitment. flights, Poole noted, then charter “Whenever we have any type went quiet as did all aviation. of large-scale catastrophic event, “People didn’t have a reason general aviation is always at the to travel,” he said. “We did have forefront of helping with relief folks who traveled to more remote supplies and helping to effectively places, like Montana or Wyoming, lend aid and support to comwhere they would be less likely to munities that don’t have a large … catch COVID.” commercial airport,” said Oracle He described a “resurgence” in Aviation General Manager Dave charter operations and on-demand Poole. “General aviation is helpflights, as individuals and families ing businesses and organizations Poole boarded planes with two to eight minimize their risk through this people that they can vet versus large jets. pandemic, by limiting their exposure.” As routes are reduced or aren’t serviced, Poole noted aircraft landing at airports potentially closer to executives’ destinations, Poole said, charter provides flexibility and so that they don’t have to drive hours to meet assurance. “January and February were the best two clients, increasing exposure risks at stops
months the company ever had,” said UltraAir President Scott Robertson. “The first two weeks of March, we were on the same pace.” The following week came the “crashing halt.” “Everything we had scheduled got canceled,” he said. “Basically, for a month and a half, two weeks in March and all of April, we had no revenue. In May, things started to trickle back in. June was good, July is going to be good, and we’re busy in August. We’re going to be better than OK.” On the leisure side, there are generally fewer airline flights and fewer direct flights. “And people are uncomfortable with the health risks,” Robertson said. In fact, Robertson further noted more inquiries on the aircraft acquisition side of the business. “The only reason our business dropped off was because people couldn’t travel anymore; it wasn’t because people didn’t have Continued on page 23.
Aviation — inside SEPTEMBEER 4, 2020
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS
THIS WEEK 'S ISSUE:
$2.00
VOL. 46 NO. 36
First Nebraska Bank rides community growth niche by Richard D. Brown
Midwest Thrifting gives clothing second life, donates to community. – Page 2
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Entrepreneurism a way of life for LeverageRX CEO Colin Nabity. – Page 3
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If not canceled or rescheduled, most events depend on virtual tech, creative engagement. – Page 4
First Nebraska Bank, a family owned state-chartered institution with roots going back to 1879, has opened its second Omaha location with a new branch location and interactive teller machine (ITM) center on 2.2 acres at 20421 George B. Lake Parkway in Elkhorn. The branch — almost midway on 204th Street between West Dodge Road and Gretna — serves an important demographic that includes not only Elkhorn, but also Gretna, Springfield, and Ashland, as well as neighborhoods in far west Omaha. A First Nebraska Bank location to the north at 330 N. Spruce St. in Valley has built up a strong clientele among Western Douglas County residents. Additional branches are located in Nebraska City, Weeping Water, Arcadia, Bennet, Columbus, Decatur, Emerson, Stanton and Brainard. Lydell L. Woodbury, a graduate of Southwest Minnesota Community College who came to Nebraska in 1983 as an ag banker, said the Continued on page 7.
President and CEO Lydell L. Woodbury, left, and Vice President/Commercial Loan Officer Wendy Boyd at the new Elkhorn location … Embracing ITM technology and electronic services to cater to upcoming generations of consumers that don’t require a physical location to do business. (Photo by MBJ / Becky McCarville)
AirLift Environmental’s field research leads to innovative groundwater treatment methods by Becky McCarville
With a backlog of thousands of contaminated groundwater sites across the country yet to be treated, companies like AirLift Environmental are responding to the call to discover ways to remediate gas products, chlorinated solvents and PFAS compounds, known as “forever chemicals” because it’s very difficult to break them down.
Formed in 2012 by Steve Comfort and Mark Christenson to continue Christenson’s graduate research work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Comfort’s environmental chemistry lab (Comfort is a professor of soil and water chemistry at UNL), AirLift Environmental received its first grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Continued on page 7. From left, owners Universal Allah and Ashlei Spivey … From pop-up darling to sought-after neighborhood burger joint, couple fill void in simple, straightforward, quality food, served fast and affordably.
Florence neighborhood hungry for Best Burger; Omaha has the appetite for future locations by Michelle Leach
From left, James Reece, environmental restoration technician II; Steve Comfort, VP of AirLift and professor of soil and water chemistry, UNL; Zoe Christenson, student intern; Mark Christenson, president; and Elise Webb, environmental laboratory technician … After patenting a cutting-edge method to treat contaminated groundwater in 2018, now the company is working on a way to treat “forever chemicals.” (Photo courtesy of AirLift Environmental)
It’s a story that has been making the rounds in Omaha culinary circles; when Universal Allah was asked, “What is the best burger place in town?” nothing stood out to him. So, he and his life partner, Ashlei Spivey, decided to do something about the lack of simple, straightforward, good food in their neighborhood. Best Burger was born. And, since the April opening
of its location in the historic Florence neighborhood, the burgers and complementary fare have been living up to their name, if the lines of patrons awaiting takeout and curbside orders and showcased in a glowing local review are any indication. “Florence especially is super-supportive about supporting Florence, which has been integral to our success,” Spivey Continued on page 8.