Business View Magazine | November 2019

129 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019 THE JOSEPH A . HARDY CONNELLSV I LLE A I RPORT of maintenance. Now, we’re a Part 135 air charter operation; we do charter, air ambulance, and cargo work. We manage close to 12 corporate aircraft. We’re also a Part 145 repair station, doing both avionics and regular mechanical maintenance. We house the airplanes for our customers; we also supply them with pilots, all their maintenance, and every aspect of their air travel. We also do a fixed-wing ambulance program. Stat MedEvac has the helicopters - they pick up the seriously injured and take them to hospitals in Pittsburgh. We do more of the long-term rehabilitation, transplant, and things of that nature. We supply all of our own medical crews, which a lot of the fixed-wing companies don’t do; we supply our own paramedics, respiratory therapists, doctors – whatever that particular trip may need, and we have people on call 24/7.” “We’ve done this through the expansion of Connellsville and thanks to them getting some other hangars built that we rent,” Shipley adds. “We also, recently, purchased one of the hangars that was privately-owned on the Airport. We also rent a large, former FBO hangar, there. So, we do a lot of activity. We’ve been able to grow because of the Airport growing and the present management that has helped bring other companies in there for us to take care of.” Going forward, Crane says that the Airport’s 12- year Master Plan has several ongoing maintenance and runway improvement projects on the books. “If we look at the bigger picture, though, there is a great desire to extend the main runway – currently it’s 3,833 feet,” he notes. “The Master Plan recommends an extension out to 4,400 feet, and the Airport has commissioned a study that looks at demand and has warranted an extension to 5,500 feet for the larger corporate aircraft.” “We hope the runway extension is part of the Airport’s plan, because we have companies that we work with that have larger aircraft and we can’t get them in with the present runway,” says Shipley. “We also are expanding our services, hopefully into some jet services, and with the aircraft we’re Head Lineman, Brandon Dowden with Airport Mascot, Jack