Aviation Business Journal 4th Quarter 2012 - 22

Solarius Aviation
Continued from page 21
of how the leadership was handling
client and employee relationships,” he
said. “However, I think the squeaky
wheel got the grease, because within a
few months (after JetDirect failed) we
started Solairus.”
He quickly added that he has
no regrets about the sale of Sunset
Aviation to JetDirect, even though it
meant a considerable financial loss.
“The experience, and more importantly
the people I met as a result of
it, led to the creation of Solairus,”
Drohan explained.
When the new organization was
in start-up mode in May 2009, it
initially used Sunset Aviation LLC,
“Our entire organization
takes our sustainable
culture of safety and
safety management
system very seriously.
It is engrained in every
element of what we do.”
drawing on the original Sunset
Aviation, Inc. name. Drohan is quick
to point out how that evolved into
Solairus Aviation.
“We did not get the old company
back, as many believe, although
we tried to do that but were unable
to come to an agreement with
JetDirect,” he explained. “However,
in preparation and anticipation of
that deal coming to fruition, we had
already created Sunset Aviation
LLC − not to be confused with
Sunset Aviation, Inc. which was sold
to JetDirect − into which we had
intended to place the assets we would
22
have received from JetDirect in a
transaction.”
The company, he noted, had initi-
ated the process of obtaining its new
Part 135 certificate under the Sunset
Aviation LLC name, but the Federal
Aviation Administration wouldn’t
allow the name change, midstream
in the process, which was when the
negotiations with JetDirect fell apart.
“We launched the new company
(from scratch) as Sunset Aviation
LLC, but with the full intention of
changing the name as soon as possible,”
Drohan said.
There were other more practical
reasons for a re-branding. For one
thing, Drohan admitted, the damage
done to the Sunset Aviation
name under JetDirect ownership was
considerable.
“Many of the folks on the Solairus
team were part of the JetDirect debacle,
and we all needed some fresh
air,” he explained. “The re-branding
was a big part of accomplishing that.
More importantly, I wanted everyone
on the team to know that this was a
new beginning; we needed to work
together to create something new,
something great and something fresh.
We’re proud of what the Solairus
brand stands for, not the least of
which is our perseverance and survival
after JetDirect.”
There was another factor working
in favor of the new company. “All of
the people who came into the organization
were already well known in the
industry,” Drohan said. “They came
in with a ready-made market that
enabled us to get off to a good start.
Since then, much of our growth was
simply the successful re-capturing
of relationships held by Solairus
team-members from their previous
roles with the legacy companies we all
came from before JetDirect.”
At the same time, the old Sunset
Aviation headquarters suite was
available. “I still owned the furniture
and phone systems, because I hadn’t
been paid for them by JetDirect,” he
remarked. “It made perfect sense to
keep everything right where it was
in Petaluma. I would like to think we
have made it a nice place for our outof-town
crews to visit. I believe they
appreciate the small town feel.”
Aircraft management and charter
continues to account for 100 percent
of the company’s business. “There are
no FBOs, maintenance facilities, or
fractional ownership or jet card programs,”
he said. “We firmly believe in
sticking to what we know. As it is, the
charter management business is hard
enough to be good at, without adding
conflicting interests into the mix.”
As of September 1, 2012, Solairus
had about 60 aircraft under management,
with half available for charter,
depending upon the owners’ usage
patterns. Drohan described the fleet
as predominantly mid-size to large
cabin business jets, although it does
include a few light jets and King Airs.
The company, itself, owns no aircraft.
“We are not myopic towards any
one market segment, and in fact
we look at each new opportunity in
the same light regardless of aircraft
type,” he said. “We’ve seen the most
development at the top end recently,
but we are very adept at servicing all
segments equally well.”
In June, Solairus surpassed its
“budgeted” fleet-addition goal for all
of 2012 and expects to bring on more
aircraft in 2013. “We turn down as
Aviation Business Journal | 4th
Quarter 2012
Aviation Business Journal 4th Quarter 2012

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