Page 8 - June 2023

Stewart says they considered themselves strictly a Cessna family until realizing in 2018 the versatility and dispatch reli- ability the King Airs could bring to their operations.
providing propane sales, equipment and related services to customers since 1938. They rebranded it Blue Star Gas soon after buying it. He never worked in the business, he worked his career in the brokerage firm and my dad ran Blue Star Gas before me.
Are there other family members involved in the business and possibly a fourth generation interested?
My wife Samantha Stewart is director of wholesale and my cousin Alex Gallard is our in-house counsel. As for a fourth generation, the short answer is: we’ll see. I have four children aged 8 to 25. My two oldest, both daughters, are working elsewhere which is a requirement within our family. You must have a master’s degree and you must have worked elsewhere before joining the family business. That approach was established by my grandfather.
Tell us about the business.
Blue Star Gas is a traditional propane distribution business in that we serve residential, commercial and industrial customers and can provide product for any use they have. In addition, we also have two significant divisions: one that focuses on power generation (backup and prime power) and another that focuses on fleet conversions to propane from gasoline usage. Each market is different and has a different mix of customers and uses, but we will engage in all of these services at any of our locations.
We have 16 locations or markets in California, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Arizona that serve 30 counties in those states. Fourteen of those markets span from the
6 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to the Canadian border. Our other two locations are Salt Lake City, Utah, and Phoenix, Arizona, so we operate in a perfect 600-mile arc from our home office/base of Santa Rosa, California, to Seattle, Salt Lake City and Phoenix.
Why is aviation important to the business?
We operate in rural propane country, places where there is either none or no practical commercial air service. We accomplish things with aviation that simply could never be done otherwise, and we do that every week to grow and foster the business.
We have owned a hot air balloon for 15 years, albeit far slower than a King Air, it also has its mission. It is operated by Wine Country Balloons to fly their passengers over the Russian River wine country multiple times per week. The balloon is part of our brand recognition in our home office market of Sonoma County, and it has been tremendously effective.
Although you were a family of pilots, you didn’t always use aircraft for business, though, right?
Besides my grandfather, my father and uncle both flew, too, so I am also a third-generation pilot in my family. My wife is taking her private check ride next month to become the first female pilot among the family. I grew up in my father’s Cessna 180 and 140. I was my father’s “autopilot” at age 8; I learned to fly instruments as that was all I could see.
My father started flying occasionally for business with our 1956 Cessna 180 in 1964 along the California coast ›
JUNE 2023