Who’s-Who of this Year’s Exhibitors Continued from page 21 the customer’s needs. From there, it’s your trip to accept or decline. Literally it’s one click: accept trip.” “Our pitch to NATA members is that as we continue to grow our net- work of charter operators and bring more density to the network, we’re able to lower the price to consumers without lowering the profit margins of the operators. Right now, a trip in a part of the country where we don’t have a lot of density can be a little more expensive than it should be because we’re accounting for the re- positioning and empty legs. As we add operators, the repositioning legs start to disappear. We’re going after a mass market and a nationwide reach with our marketing, so we think this is a very different value proposition than some other charter models. Operators have nothing to lose, because there’s no risk here. We’re only going to be able to send them customers and we believe it has the potential to work a lot better than what’s out there.” Officially launching its service at this year’s Aviation Business Conference and following with a larger rollout at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in July—FlyOtto celebrated its inaugural flight in August, send- ing a happy customer from Martha’s Vineyard to New York in a Piper. Rakic says the first months have far exceeded his expectations. “There’s no app to download. Go to the website on any device, and it just works. As long as you have a web browser, you can immediately start booking travel at FlyOtto.com,” Rakic says. “If you’re an operator, you can just as easily start offering travel at Operators.FlyOtto.com.” Porter County Regional Airport Kyle Kuebler, Director at Porter County Regional Airport (Valparaiso, Indiana) for more than 25 years, says exhibiting at the NATA 2016 Aviation Business Conference for the first time is a part of a new phase in his efforts to market the airport. “We have a number of fantas- tic shovel-ready sites for airport development prospects for any companies looking for a midwest location,” Kuebler says. He’s aiming to get out in front of as many differ- ent user groups as possible. “On- airport opportunities could include MROs, avionics shops, corporate aviation, just about anything.” As he met with NATA mem- bers in June, Kuebler talked up his airport’s location and its easy access to all four modes of trans- portation available in the area. “In addition to having a wonderful airport with a runway system longer than Midway’s, we have a terrific highway system close to the fringe of the Chicago market, we have three railway systems and two of them are spur-able, and 20 minutes up the road access to a deepwater port,” he says. “That combination, paired with a very supportive local community and strong investment partnerships with the county and city, really makes this area a driving force and should make our airport an attractive option. We’ve really been working to attract quality businesses and quality jobs to our region, and we have a lot to offer, and we see events like the NATA Aviation Business Conference as a way to market the airport’s eco- nomic development opportunities.” Founded in 1949, Porter County Regional Airport (VPZ) is just one mile southeast of Vaparaiso, a rapidly-growing Indiana community and one hour northwest of Chicago or one hour northeast of South Bend by ground transportation. The airport, Indiana’s top-ranked for based aircraft, boasts over 70,000 landings and departures annually on its commercial-length runways, and Kuebler is promoting the VPZ as a business aviation alterna- tive to the O’Hare, Midway, South Bend, Ft. Wayne and Indianapolis airports in the Tri-State region. “We have a number of build-to- suit development opportunities and shovel-ready sites, existing hangar facilities and other infrastructure, and a full complement of flight support services,” Kuebler explains. His mar- keting materials also emphasize state and local tax incentives and property tax exemption for aviation-related or on-airport development. “It’s been incredible to see the growth and development of both Valparaiso and the Porter County Regional Airport, and even more exciting to know how much more is possible here.” “It’s been incredible to see the growth and development of both Valparaiso and the Porter County Regional Airport, and even more exciting to know how much more is possible here.” Aviation Business Journal | 3rd Quarter 2016 23
