A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Sabreliner Aviation, rooted in support of Sabreliner business jets, plans to expand its business aviation MRO services in the wake of its purchase and reorganization earlier this year. “We’re not a start-up, but an upstart,” said Sabreliner Services president Greg Fedele at the company’s headquarters in Perryville, Mo., explaining the company’s reinvention.


Founded in 1983 to support the Sabreliner military and civilian fleets (production of the aircraft had ceased two years earlier), Sabreliner Corp. also provided MRO and refurbishment services for the C-12, C-21 and U-28–U.S. military designations for the Beechcraft King Air, Learjet 35 and Pilatus PC-12, respectively–among other aircraft for the armed forces. Last fall Sabreliner defaulted on loans, blaming its predicament on reduced government spending mandated by sequestration. This past January Innovative Capital Holdings of Naples, Fla., acquired the assets of Sabreliner (terms undisclosed) and began the restructuring. Published reports put Sabreliner’s annual revenue at $40 million to $60 million.


“The extent and breadth of the capabilities appealed to the new owners,” said Fedele. “There isn’t anything we can’t do to an airplane; we have an interior, paint, avionics and engine shop, and we do metalwork, composites, structural engineering, all right here.”


The company plans to parlay its military experience into civilian employment, starting with shopping MRO work on the King Air, Learjet 35 and PC-12. Fedele noted the company never sought FAA approvals to work on those aircraft for the civilian market but will do so now.


Additionally, the company has extensive experience on 500-series Cessna Citations, and will seek to expand that business, as well.


Sabreliner has already demonstrated an ability to work the civilian side of military aircraft, having transformed Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks into VIP transports for operators, Jordan and Bahrain among them, under FMS contracts, with all the interior and soft-goods work done in house. The upgrade includes a clamshell door the company developed as a replacement for the UH-60’s sliding door, mimicking the entry and egress of an executive helicopter.


Life-extension Programs


Fedele plans to strengthen support for the Sabreliner fleet: “We’re studying extending the life through avionics upgrade and engine upgrade programs,” and the company has “started conversations with suppliers,” he said, while declining to identify those under consideration. He noted some Sabreliners have been outfitted to meet ADS-B requirements, “so we have that solution.” The company is even considering getting involved in acquiring, upgrading and “flipping” older Sabreliners, particularly the Sabreliner 65. Besides private clients, the company supports the government’s T-39 Sabreliner fleet, though Fedele noted those “will sundown and stop flying soon,” their future beyond that unknown.


The company also inspects, repairs and overhauls engines, among them the General Electric CF700 used on the Falcon 20 and Sabreliner 75 and 80; ubiquitous Honeywell TFE731; and Pratt &amp; Whitney JT12 turbojet used on the Sabreliner 60 and the S-64 Skycrane helicopter. The company intends to expand these capabilities. Today, for example, it works only on light TFE731s but plans to service medium variants in the future, as well.


The company has vacated its former headquarters in Clayton, Mo. At Perryville Municipal Airport, the company has some 200,000 sq ft under roof in a dozen buildings, including two large paint booths. Fedele said there’s room for expansion within its existing facilities, and noted the region has a pool of experienced labor, as a number of aviation services companies are in the St. Louis area.


Sabreliner Aviation also has a facility in Ste. Genevieve, where it conducts its Castle program, a destructive testing component of a KC-135 life-extension effort that entails chopping tanker fuselages into 12-foot sections and tearing each down to nuts and bolts and documenting the wear and damage. The findings are analyzed against the flight histories of each airframe, enabling military planners to assess structural issues to address as the life-extension program progresses. The company is also working with Southwest Research Institute on the structural teardown and inspection of wings on the Northrop T-38 Talon as part of the T-38 USAF Aircraft Structural Integrity Program, and is now in the fourth year of a five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract.


Fedele recognizes that competing in the civilian world will take more than technical capability and first-class facilities, but he expressed confidence the team can achieve its goals. “The new owners and I are bullish on the future of this business,” he said. “We really want to grow and put Sabreliner back on the map.”


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News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

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