Page 11 - Volume 15 Number 5

Katie is the company’s pilot and said she expects to fly the King Air about 150 to 200 hours a year, allowing their sales team and company leadership to meet with customers across North America on a consistent basis for the first time.
“We’ll have the owners going out, the sales team going out – they’ll be meeting customers they’ve had a relationship with for years but had very little face-to-face time with, as well as meeting potential new customers in the pistachio market,” she said. “It’s nice to have that handshake and that face-to- face time. It’s amazing what you can learn about your customer that you just don’t when you’re talking on the phone.”
They’re also using the King Air to visit pistachio growers as Stamoules researches growing that segment of their business. Some of these farming operations would require a three-hour drive from a region’s main airport, while the King Air can get them much closer to their final destination. That turns what would have been a one or two day trip flying commercially into a day trip.
They’ve had the King Air just a few months and the pandemic has slowed some of their travel. Most of the missions have been in the western U.S., to get the sales team acclimated to having an aircraft available, and so far passengers and the pilot have been pleased.
“It’s such a great aircraft,” Katie said. “We’ve got the whole Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion® avionics system, the autothrottle system and the interior is just beautiful. It’s got that great hum to the engine. It’s performed exactly the way we thought it would.”
The King Air’s custom paint scheme featuring generous use of orange, blue and purple – each a favorite color of the siblings – is quick to draw attention on the ramp.
“My husband Dio is an architect by trade and he loves coming up with creative designs,” Katie said.
JUNE 2021
“He put a lot of thought into it and I’m so glad we did it this way. I’ve always thought that if you take the time to buy a brand-new aircraft, why wouldn’t you make it your own with the paint.”
Stamoules hangars the aircraft at Fresno International Airport until the company builds a hangar on the farm to go with the runway they installed in 2020.
“This aircraft represents that we’re 93 years strong, and we’re moving forward,” Dio said when the family took delivery of the King Air in Wichita.
Spero added: “We believe that our grandparents are looking down at us, probably enthralled with what’s happened in our business and the direction it’s going to go.” KA
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