Page 6 - Volume 15 Number 6

The aircraft’s ramp presence is appealing to charter customers – another reason Spring City chose to go with an all-King Air fleet. (Photo credit: Bridget Johnson)
“We’ve seen increased activity in response to the COVID situation in every aspect of the business, from the flight school to owners using their aircraft more and thereby requiring more maintenance, as well as more managed aircraft and more charters being booked,” said Spring City Aviation founder and president Brian Behrens. “From everything we’re experiencing, I think general aviation is going to be strong over the next few years.”
Humble beginnings
Brian and his father Lonny Behrens started their flight school in 1996 at Waukesha Airport/Crites Airfield (KUES). They named it Spring City Aviation based on a historical reference to Waukesha,
4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
a city whose clean spring water earned the nicknames Spa City and Spring City.
Brian grew up flying with his dad, who was a corporate pilot and designated pilot examiner, and the pair rebuilt a 1968 American Champion Citabria when Brian was a teenager working at the nearby American Champion factory. Brian earned a four-year degree in aerospace studies from Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University and soon after graduating in 1995, they started the business using that Citabria.
In 2001, Lonnie was ready to retire so Brian bought his half of the company to become president and sole owner of Spring City Aviation. By then, Brian was a pilot
with Midwest Express Airlines, a local airline flying Beechcraft 1900 twin-engine turboprop aircraft out of Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
He continued flying for Midwest while operating the flight school until 2008, when the economic crisis hit the airline industry. At that point he turned his attention fulltime to growing Spring City Aviation. He added a charter certificate offering piston aircraft and acquired more hangars at KUES to provide FBO services.
In May 2016, they expanded the same services to Burlington Municipal Airport (KBUU), where they cover customers in the southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois areas. Then in December 2016, they moved into ›
MAY 2021