It is said that success is where preparation and opportunity meet. During the past two years, that has been demonstrated by Precision Aviation Group (PAG), a leading provider of products and value-added services to the worldwide aerospace and defense industries. Due to its immediate response and actions after the Covid-19 pandemic hit North America, PAG not only strongly weathered the economic downturn, but found itself in a position to take considerable advantage of new opportunities.
In February 2020, PAG president and CEO David Mast received a call that would change the face of the company. A colleague overseas phoned to warn him of the pandemic hitting Europe. He brought news that it was catching aviation companies off guard and had the potential to bring the economy to its knees. To preserve the company and ensure it persevered, steps had to be taken immediately, even though the U.S. on a whole hadn’t yet gained full awareness of the virus or its potential economic fallout.
“There is no playbook for how to handle a pandemic from a business standpoint,” Mast said. “However, we knew rapid, tactical, and precision decision-making was critical. We had to make some very difficult decisions quickly, explain why we were making them, and get our teams onboard. In the end, it was those decisions that positioned us to be very opportunistic in a very difficult aviation market.”
Prior to that February call, PAG was in a strong growth upswing as it aggressively acquired successful aviation companies and rapidly expanded its service capabilities around the world. By the end of March 2020, that all changed. The company slowed its procurement, ceased all travel, sent non-essential office personnel home to work, and reduced overhead costs by 35 percent. It had also put full KN95 mask-wearing, 24/7 enhanced facility cleaning, split shifts and quarantine protocols in place to preserve its workforce and ensure its 240 global technicians remained healthy.
The fast action ensured PAG was available for customers throughout the pandemic. The phone was always answered, work was always completed on time, and no PAG customer was left hanging. In fact, this seemingly simple act of ensuring the lights stayed on and employees remained available boosted business.
“There seemed to be a lot of ‘we’ll wait and see’ attitudes in aviation businesses as the pandemic built,” Mast recalled. “Yet, in the end, some of those companies lost 60 to 70 percent of their business because of a lack of advance preparation.”
As other businesses struggled to respond to the pandemic early on, PAG was positioned to meet customer needs. Word got out and new customers, unable to get the support they needed from their current suppliers, began calling. PAG focused on delivering, even expanding its facilities to meet growing needs. In 2020, it nearly doubled its Brisbane, Australia, facility to better support the Australasian market, doubled its Precision Display Repairs (PDR, formerly Momentum Services Corp.) business in Camarillo, California, and acquired EFIX Aviation Support, a Brazilian company specializing in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services to better support the South American market.
Foundational value
PAG makes no secret of its complete dedication to the customer experience. By putting the customer and how it supports that customer as a top priority, PAG drew in new business, allowing its business development arm to continue to strategically plan and grow despite the economic climate.
“Our growth comes from a place of seeking how to create additional value for our customers,” said PAG senior vice president of sales and marketing Ketan Desai. “We look for successful companies that have similar mindsets in terms of customer service and offer products and services that benefit our customers. We supercharge them, linking them to our family of businesses and increasing the overall customer experience.”
By 2021, PAG was back in the saddle, this time taking advantage of the market to acquire additional companies to add to the PAG family. In May 2021, PAG acquired Keystone Turbine Services (KTS) of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a company with exceptional customer service and cost-effective repair solutions for Rolls-Royce M250 operators. By August 2021, it also added Trace Aviation of Jackson, Mississippi, an MRO shop specializing in King Air/1900 landing gear assemblies. In the past 12 months alone, it has invested more than $5 million to expand global inventory and added more than 100 new capabilities to its repair stations.
Despite PAG’s ever-growing portfolio of companies and services, its customers continue to receive individual attention. PAG customers still work with a single point of contact, regardless of the scale or complexity of the service needed. That one person handles all logistics between PAG companies, including inter-facility shipping, freeing customers to focus on their operations. This not-so-secret dedication to the customer experience is how PAG continues to grow.
