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On the Record With
BETH HASKINS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT
"I'm not averse to building," says Signature Flight Support president and CEO Beth Haskins. "But I prefer to take on an existing business with an existing client base."
Haskins' NBAA goal? "To meet and greet with customers and to make sure the world understands we've globalized."
And how. Orlando, Fla.-headquartered Signature (Booth 9123) now has 17 locations in Europe and jv operations in Brazil and Hong Kong.
Two of the European locations, in Greece, were acquired just last month from Athens Aviation. Ten others, primarily in the UK, were acquired from Execair in August. Signature broke ground on a new facility at the Toulon-Hyeres Airport in southern France in March, after commencing operations from the main terminal there in January.
"Five years ago Le Bourget (Paris) was our only international location," Haskins says.
Signature has more than 40 U.S. locations too, and they are getting better. "Signature in North America alone has spent $200 million in facility improvements in the last six years," Haskins says, noting she expects the trend to continue as new properties are acquired.
"As you buy locations you need to freshen them up or renew leases," she says.
"Yes, there will be more," Haskins adds. "We are looking worldwide. "We are not looking just at Europe. Aviation is a global business."
Signature was founded in 1992 via a merger of Butler Aviation and Page Avjet. It is owned by the BBA Group of Great Britain, which counts CSE Aircraft Sales, Dallas Airmotive, and Precision Avionics & Instruments among its numerous subsidiaries.
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