Postflight

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Find a viable market in a robust industry and give it all you've got. Such a business philosophy sounds good, but it would likely steer one away from the airline industry in recent years. It did not scare Jerry Hernandez away.

Hernandez is a principal with Jacksonville, Florida-based Flightstar Aircraft Services. Located at the Jacksonville International Airport, Flightstar is a provider of heavy maintenance and inspection services as well as modification services for narrowbody air transports. The company specializes in Boeing MD80s, DC-9s, 727s, and 737s. Services include all levels of scheduled maintenance from daily line checks to heavy depot-level maintenance. Additionally the company provides engine changes, avionics modifications, structural modifications and upgrades, reduced noise level modifications, and conversions of passenger-to-freighter aircraft.

Hernandez says his new business venture is his most significant and unique accomplishment. Starting and building an airliner maintenance company during a period that has been defined as the worst financial time in the history of the air transport industry takes guts. He did this at a time when most airlines were experiencing extreme financial challenges even before September 11, and that catastrophe only magnified an already dismal outlook.

Hernandez began his aviation career in 1976 by enlisting in the U.S. Air Force where he worked on B-52, F-4, F-16, and T-38 aircraft. After achieving the level of E-6 in the military and earning several awards, including the Tactical Air Command's Aviation Professional of the Year Award in 1982, Hernandez separated from the service in 1988.

Hernandez then went into civil aviation as the director of maintenance for Professional Modification Service (PMS), a start-up company in Miami, Florida. He resigned from the vice president of maintenance position of PMS in 1999. Then along with his partners, Ray Rivera and Juan Briz, moved to Jacksonville and started Flightstar.

"In our particular market, Flightstar had focused on the overnight package carriers" said Hernandez. "More specifically, we supported the carriers that were supporting Emery Worldwide such as Kitty Hawk Cargo and Capital Cargo."

Hernandez and his colleagues found that the business of aviation operates against a background of change and challenge. "The first challenge came when the United States Postal Service switched the major airmail contract from Emery to Federal Express" he explained. "Flightstar and our customers were addressing this situation," he said, "when Emery subsequently ceased operations entirely."

As if that wasn't enough, Flightstar was right in the midst of another event that happened at about the same time: the September 11 terrorist attacks.

For Hernandez and his team at Flightstar, persistence has paid off. "Not only did we survive all of these challenges," he said, "we prospered and grew, significantly exceeding our business plan in every year of our existence."

The company's robust growth and quality service was recognized as one of the "Fifty Fastest Growing Businesses in Northeast Florida."

Hernandez explained that Flightstar is in the final stages of planning a new facility that will enable it to triple capacity. "With that expansion, our platform portfolio will increase to include the Boeing 757 and 767 family of airliners," he said. "While our plans call for us to focus on the Boeing family, we will look at opportunities to service other platforms as the market may direct."

Aviation maintenance challenges in many ways. For Hernandez, the greatest challenge is focus. "The biggest challenge facing any business in today's dynamic environment is remaining focused," he said. "With an abundance of information available, we see a lot of businesses reacting almost hourly to the latest events in the industry news."

His own experience has been that a quick response to a business process or condition can be dangerous. "We try to listen to what's going on and be sensitive to any real flags that may arise," he said. "Most reactive measures are short-lived in nature, and staying the course seems to work best for us."

What advice does Hernandez have for someone entering aviation maintenance? "First and foremost is obtain the best education you can," he said with conviction. He noted that someone in his career path learns quickly that the greater the sacrifice, the greater the eventual rewards. Hernandez also emphasized having clear goals, vision, and vigilance. "Develop a general idea of what goals you want to achieve both long- and short-term," he explained, "remain focused on these goals, and finally be aware of, and capitalize on, opportunities as they arise."

— By Jim Romeo