How underdog SheltAir Jacksonville bet that it could take on the Super Bowl . . . and won.
by Eric Capper
In January 2005, SheltAir Aviation Services, an FBO located at Jacksonville International Airport (JAX), had been open only a few weeks when a situation arose that would make any FBO manager reach for the 787-size Pepto bottle: Super Bowl XXXIX was set to take place that weekend in nearby Alltel Stadium, and tens of thousands of pigskin-mad fans would be coming in to watch the New England Patriots battle the Philadelphia Eagles — a healthy portion of them on private jets.
“The most challenging part was the fact that we still had limited facilities,” recalls general manager Jonathan Buff. “Limited” is putting it lightly. FBO staff was still working out of a triple-wide, and while the lone hangar was finished, the ramp in front was incomplete, which meant planes couldn’t park inside. When the swarm finally hit — the FBO handled 157 operations and 26 charters over the course of the weekend — “there was so much traffic coming into the airport we had to have the planes wait on the taxi,” Buff says. His staff let flight crews use the 3,000 square feet of unfinished office space attached to the hangar as a lounge, and set up the customer-service desk out on the hangar floor, the only place with sufficient room.
Buff is convinced that the only thing that got them through was a year of planning . . . and that many of them had been in a similar big-game situation before. “It’s not the Super Bowl, but we handle a large number of aircraft twice each year at our Daytona location for the Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 races,” he says.
Since then, SheltAir Jacksonville has come a very long way: Now outfitted with two 30,000-square-foot hangars, the FBO offers a concierge, gym, on-request U.S. Customs, enormous conference rooms and other business-center facilities. The facility accommodates some 4,000 operations annually and recently earned a spot on Aviation International News’ 2007 FBO Survey list of the Top 40 FBOs in the Americas.
“The Super Bowl plan established our name as a quality organization capable of providing top-shelf service in the midst of significant operational challenges,” Buff says. “But ultimately, our reputation as a top FBO location was built through consistent care and service.” So if you’re thinking of loading up the golf clubs and treating yourself to that new fantasy Tournament Players package (see page 81) at nearby TPC Sawgrass, remember: These guys live for that kind of spotlight.
14600 Whirlwind Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida 32218
904-741-0904
sheltairaviation.com/aviation/jax
Radio: ARINC 130.8
Runway 725: 10,000 x 150 feet
Runway 1331: 7,701 x 150 feet