Premier Air Center of East Alton, Ill., has deep roots in the general aviation community. It began in 1947 as Walston Aviation on St. Louis Regional Airport and became one of the largest Cessna dealers in the world. The business changed hands a few times, eventually becoming Premier Air Center in 1984. In 2002 a group of investors, including Sam Haycraft, Mike Durst and Jim Swehla, acquired the company.
Haycraft, v-p of operations, told AIN that he, Durst (general manager) and Swehla (v-p of sales and marketing) looked specifically for a small company so they could get to know all their customers personally. “Large facilities have gotten so big it’s easy for them to become impersonal. We all worked for Garrett Aviation for about 25 years. There were approximately 100 employees when I started there in the late 1970s and I watched it grow to about 500 by the time I left.” He added, “I had a good career with Garrett and I have a lot of friends there, but I felt it was time to try things my own way.”
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