Chad is the editor of AINalerts, AIN's daily business aviation newsletter, and is also the news editor at AIN Media Group.&nbsp;He has been writing about aviation, with an emphasis on business aviation, since 1994. Chad started his writing career at The Avion,&nbsp;the&nbsp;student newspaper at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, serving as editor-in-chief before graduating with a bachelor's in aeronautical science. After a stint as managing editor at Professional Pilot&nbsp;magazine, he joined&nbsp;AIN in late 1998. Chad holds a commercial pilot certificated with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and he also is a CFI/CFII. He lives and works from his home in Venice, Florida.

Online Editor

Chad Trautvetter

Two FBOs in the Caribbean—Bohlke International Airways at St. Croix Henry E. Rohlsen Airport and Jet Aviation San Juan—outlined their roles in relief efforts following Hurricanes Irma and Maria at the Caribbean Aviation Meetup in Nassau, Bahamas, yesterday. Managers at each of the facilities called Irma, which skirted their respective islands, good practice for what was to come 10 days later—a direct hit from a category 5 Maria.

 


According to Bohlke president and chief pilot William “Billy” Bohlke, the company and partner AeroMD performed more than 100 medical evacuation missions throughout the Caribbean in two Cessna Citations (a II and a Bravo) and an IAI Astra in the 105 days following Irma. Maria wiped out Bohlke’s FBO and hangars, but spared an unoccupied facility across the field where it was able to quickly transfer AeroMD’s ops center and its day-to-day FBO operations.

 


Meanwhile, Jet Aviation San Juan marketing director Frances Ryan said her facility moved 1.5 million pounds of humanitarian aid cargo in the aftermath of Irma and another four million after Maria. The company’s glass-faced FBO terminal, opened just three months before the hurricanes hit in September, survived Maria unscathed and “literally became the airport” and the center of relief effort operations at San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, handling more than 3,500 humanitarian flights and facilitating the flow of 27,000 passengers into and out of the country in the following three months, as well as 2,000 critical patient transfers.

 


The road to recovery will take time for both facilities, they said. Bohlke is still working to get permits to tear down its damaged facility and rebuild, which it hopes to complete by the end of next year. However, Bohlke said his company has yet to settle with the insurance companies and is concerned about obtaining building supplies, which have to be shipped in and are still in short supply.

 


Jet Aviation Puerto Rico, which lost its hangar as a result of Maria, already had prior approval to build what would have been a second hangar, with a concrete slab poured before Maria hit. It plans to open this new hangar by year-end, but Ryan said she is unsure when the damaged hangar could be torn down and rebuilt.

 


Ryan and Bohlke expressed gratitude to their respective employees, who worked long days in the aftermath of the hurricanes despite many suffering damages or total loss of personal property during Maria. Both companies also pulled out all the stops to provide for their employees and their families after Maria, providing generators, fuel, food, and water so employees were able to work without worrying about their families’ basic needs.

New developments at FBOs including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

Caribbean FBOs Detail 2017 Hurricane-relief Efforts

Bohlke International Airways and Jet Aviation San Juan were essential to Hurricane Irma and Maria relief efforts.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Curt Epstein

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

FBO chain's 30-year commitment reaches more than $1 billion

Atlantic Aviation‘s Aspen Lease Finally Reaches Finish

New developments at airports including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

Airport last owned the facility in the early 2000s

Illinois Airport Reacquires Sole Service Provider

The complex is viewed as the cornerstone of an aviation conglomerate

Major Las Vegas Hangar Complex Changes Hands

Projects totaled more than $5 million in infrastructure development

Oklahoma Airport Gets More Hangars, Upgraded Ramp

The facility will lean heavily towards sustainability

Clay Lacy Aviation Starts Construction on New KSNA FBO

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

More In FBOs

Atlantic Aviation‘s Aspen Lease Finally Reaches Finish

FBO chain's 30-year commitment reaches more than $1 billion

Illinois Airport Reacquires Sole Service Provider

Airport last owned the facility in the early 2000s

Major Las Vegas Hangar Complex Changes Hands

The complex is viewed as the cornerstone of an aviation conglomerate

Oklahoma Airport Gets More Hangars, Upgraded Ramp

Projects totaled more than $5 million in infrastructure development

Clay Lacy Aviation Starts Construction on New KSNA FBO

The facility will lean heavily towards sustainability

NATA Panel Examines FBO Preparation for eVTOL Service

OEMs and FBOs talk about how electric aircraft can be accommodated at FBOs

NATA Conference Panel Examines FBO Consolidation

While the big chains take a more selective approach, others remain hungry

Atlantic Aviation Gets Lease Renewal Approval in Aspen

The decision is the latest in a nearly two-year saga at the airport

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN