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The incoming president is more business friendly – and more in tune with the aviation industry – than President Obama, according to a local company that maintains and operates company and private jets.
Will President Donald Trump, who once owned an airline and who flies the globe in a 757 jet that bears his name, be a boon to U.S. commercial aviation?
The people at Threshold Aviation, which services a fleet of corporate and private jets at Chino Airport, believe so.
“Trump understands the importance of flying when you’re trying to business in today’s world, which is why we think he’s going to do great things, ” said Mark DiLullo, Threshold’s chief executive officer. “It’s like that line about a rising tide lifting all ships. We believe he’s going to implement policies that help the entire industry.”
Between 1982 and 1989, Trump owned and operated Trump Shuttle Inc., which did business as Trump Airlines. That company operated hourly flights between New York, Washington, D.C. and Boston, as well as flights between New York and Orlando, Fla.
During his presidential campaign, Trump criticized the condition of several major U.S. airports, particularly LaGuardia Airport in New York, which he called “third world.” He called for some airport upgrades, but otherwise made little mention of commercial aviation.
But DiLullo – who spends much of his time traveling the world looking for private jets that he can buy, restore and add to Threshold’s fleet – has boundless confidence in the soon-to-be 45th president of the United States.
“Donald Trump recognizes that in today’s business world, an airplane is just like a car,” DiLullo said. “We’re in a global economy, but you still want to do business with people face to face. An airplane gets you to where you need to be so you can do business.
“Trump is business friendly, and he understands the relationship between industry and commercial aviation.”
DiLullo, who started Threshold Aviation 20 years ago, said he hopes Trump cuts business taxes across the board, thus creating incentives for all companies to expand and grow.
“Airplanes are just one piece of the puzzle,” DiLullo said. “It would be very narrow-minded to say ‘do this or do that’ for the commercial aviation industry. I don’t think that’s how to look at it. We want all businesses to do well and grow exponentially, so everyone does well.”
If nothing else, Trump should be better for companies like Threshold than President Obama, who early in his first term threatened to raise taxes on companies that own their own jets.
“It never happened, but it really sent the wrong message to the industry,” DiLullo said.
Threshold is one of the largest aircraft operator and maintenance companies in Southern California, with about 65 employees and about 150,000 square feet of hangar space at Chino Airport, which it leases from San Bernardino County, the airport’s owner.
Its fleet includes Gulfstreams, Falcons, Challengers, Lear Jets, Citations and 727-VIP Aircraft. The company offers a number of services to its clients, including storage, insurance, maintenance and arranging for pilots.
Twenty sixteen might have been Threshold’s most successful year ever, and as 2017 approaches it’s getting inquiries from businesses and individuals who are interested in purchasing planes.
“That’s a sign the industry is doing well,” DiLullo said.
Threshold Aviation also continues to pursue a deal that would bring a pilot’s school to Chino Airport.
The company is enthusiastically negotiating a lease with the county for hangar space that would house the school, where students would spend 18 months in training, said Doug Crowther, Threshold’s director of business operations.
“We still expect that deal to happen,” Crowther said.
