Page 12 - June 2023

“For the areas that we operate in and the airports that we go into, the King Airs are absolutely the right fit for what we’re doing.”
Information System (no more analog round dials). We have redone the interior and carpet as well.
We sold our first B200 with -42 engines, and concurrently in 2020 bought N222CY that we are flying today. That aircraft has the wingtip extensions with BLR Aerospace winglets, -61 engines and the G1000 NXi avionics suite and wing lockers. We spend a lot of time at FL 350 where we typically burn less than 500 lbs all in, or 70 gallons an hour. We can comfortably fly just over six hours and achieve 1,900-2,000 nautical miles with a modest tailwind of 30-40 knots. Regular nonstop routes include Santa Rosa, California, to Manassas, Virginia; Asheville, North Carolina; or Destin, Florida. If winds are not too strong, Dallas to Santa Rosa is doable. It has also flown the city pair of Garberville to Phoenix Sky Harbor. The B200 is incredibly versatile.
How have the King Air aircraft supported growth of Blue Star Gas?
We really have built the business around aircraft. We are able to move people to support and grow the business into all of our markets to develop them, and then hire behind as demand materializes to support the headcount financially. It is a formula that we continue to do in waves as opportunities present themselves. This allows us to be very opportunistic but also focused and disciplined. The aircraft allow us to have much more face time with employees than we otherwise would, and business aviation allows us to maintain our company culture and achieve the high level of safety we maintain.
We built our whole Autogas fleet business with our aircraft. We are part of a national group called Alliance Autogas and we support customers in seven western states, including locations where we don’t even have operations. We will fly to visit a prospect, advance the sale process to conclusion, then perform system design and permitting as needed. When it comes time for the installation we will dispatch trucks and personnel for the infrastructure installation, and then we select another propane company to make the actual deliveries to our equipment. We maintain ownership of the equipment and billing relationship with the customer. The approach
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works for all parties concerned. This simply could not be done without the aircraft. We have deployed this model in Tillamook, Oregon; Flagstaff, Prescott and Tucson, Arizona; as well as Burley, Idaho, and Moses Lake and Pasco, Washington.
How does the company manage flight operations?
We have a chief pilot, Byron Barnes, who flies about 50% of the 900 hours a year we fly in the King Airs combined. I fly the balance to meetings that I attend or industry meetings. Starting in June 2023, I become Chair of the National Propane Gas Association and will be using our B200 to travel all over the country to state industry meetings. Being based on the West Coast, that will likely be 250 hours of flying alone.
You’ve also recently started flying the B200 for philanthropic missions. Tell me about your involvement with Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), a national organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained service dogs at no charge to the recipient.
I began flying for CCI during COVID when the airlines shut down the live animal transport programs that CCI relied on to move their animals. Myself and three other pilots moved many dogs that were waiting at the breeding center. I have delivered over 150 puppies around the country including Seattle, San Diego, Great Falls, Boise, Denver, Columbus, Dallas, Orlando and Manassas. The most I have had on board was 16 pups; their genetics are so strong to be focused and docile that they are the best passengers I fly!
The King Air is a wonderful platform with the flexibility of easily removing a portion of the interior for crates and having dividers to muffle yelps if needed, which is rare. CCI continues to utilize private aircraft for transportation. The experience for the dogs is so much less stressful than commercial flights. All the same reasons that we like private aviation are the same reasons they will continue to use private aviation. We continue to fly pups in conjunction with business trips we are taking.
As Blue Star continues to grow, are you finding any limitations with the B200?
We have grown a lot, and certainly that growth has been supported going from the 421s to the King Airs. Our organic growth target is 12% to 15% every year of new customers within our footprint. The goal is to double the company every six years and we’ve been doing that for a long time.
With that growth, we are finding ourselves with eight people more frequently and sometimes we have a need for even more than the eight who can fit in the 200. A 350 certainly would fit the bill someday. When we do grow into a larger airplane, it’ll be a King Air absolutely. For the areas that we operate in and the airports that we go into, the King Airs are absolutely the right fit for what we’re doing. KA
JUNE 2023