Flexjet Inc., a private aviation company, announced Flying Colours Corp., an aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company, is joining the Flexjet family of companies. This further expands the private jet travel industry’s most significant maintenance and product support network, with facilities in the United States, Canada and Europe supporting Flexjet’s rapidly growing fleet.
“Bringing the capabilities of Constant Aviation, which Flexjet bought earlier this year, and now Flying Colours in-house enables us to ensure both the highest possible service quality and the maximum availability of aircraft for our Owners,” says Flexjet Chairman, Kenn Ricci. “Unlike other companies in our space that rely on third-party providers for their MRO needs, Flexjet now fully controls its maintenance and product support needs, and this aligns with our strategic vision of differentiating ourselves from the competition at every level and in every way. We’re thrilled to welcome the talented Flying Colours team to Flexjet with their 40-plus year history of excellence as a global leader in aircraft completions.”
Flying Colours, headquartered in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, offers not only a full range of MRO services but also a comprehensive set of additional capabilities specifically focused on aircraft interior completions and refurbishments, as well as custom aircraft painting. Flying Colours’ highly trained technicians and staff have developed a reputation for providing the finest level of craftsmanship in the business aviation industry.
The recently opened paint and completions hangars at Flying Colours’ facility at Peterborough Airport exemplify the company’s commitment to meeting any need. The primary 40,000-sq.-ft. paint hangar can handle any size business aircraft as well as airliner category aircraft (with a secondary facility that can handle any Gulfstream aircraft up to a G650). At 61,000 square feet, the new completions hangar is among the industry’s largest, enabling Flying Colours to handle multiple aircraft simultaneously.
“One of the qualities most associated with Flexjet is our superior cabin experience, as exemplified by the more than 40 unique interiors in our LXi Cabin Collection. Flying Colours is renowned for the excellence of its paint and completion work, and this ensures that the interiors of our aircraft meet the world’s highest standards,” says Jay Heublein, Flexjet Senior Vice President of Maintenance. “This acquisition ensures that we can deliver on the commitment we made to our owners to provide the best possible cabin experience.”
Added John Gillespie, Flying Colours’ president and CEO, “Flying Colours’ relationship with Flexjet spans decades and we are looking forward to joining the Flexjet family. Our culture and focus on quality aligns perfectly and we look forward to expanding on a vision that is unlike anything I have seen before in business aviation.” Upon completion of the transaction, Gillespie will take a lead role overseeing completions strategy within the global Flexjet network.
Flexjet’s global maintenance facility footprint now includes 12 primary maintenance facilities and 30 geographically strategic AOG teams to provide field support to the fleet. This includes the new Flying Colours facilities at Peterborough Airport and at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (located west of St. Louis, Missouri).
Approximately 250 Flying Colours team members will join Flexjet. In addition, Flexjet is actively in the process of hiring nearly 200 core technicians during the current year.
