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    In Focus: 3 Who Have Served an Industry

    Sept. 5, 2014
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    Craig Sincock – Avfuel president takes his company to the global market

    In 1985, Craig Sincock acquired a ‘mom and pop’ fuel distribution company in Ann Arbor, MI. Through the years he has led Avfuel from a four-person shop to one that employs hundreds nationwide and has various subsidiaries – Avtank; Avlease; Avsurance; Avflight; and Avplan. The company’s latest focus is targeting the growing international marketplace.

    To grow the company to its present size, Sincock through the years orchestrated some 16 major acquisitions, four of which were public company spin-offs. Among them: Pride Aviation (1988); Triton Fuel Group (1993); PS Trading, Inc. (1998); Texaco General Aviation (2001); and, Avplan Corporation (2009).

    He relates, “We’ve always tried to emphasize a high level of customer service and treat customers as friends. It’s been our model all along. We took that high-touch model and put it together with the fuel and branding, and then added services and product lines.

    “One of the bright things I discovered was the more I got into this industry, the more great people I met. It is so rich with many, many people who you can trust.”

    His biggest disappointment over the past three decades? “My biggest disappointment is probably the industry has not been able to change enough the public perception about what business aviation is about,” he says. “I wish we had been able to move the perception on how valuable this industry is.”

    Regarding the future of the industry Sincock comments, “It’s going to be different in that the expansion areas will be in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America, as demonstrated by where the aircraft manufacturers are selling airplanes. Aviation is the venue in which people connect – people, culture, commerce. You can look up people on the Web, but eventually you’re on a plane. Future growth will be more global than domestic.”

    What’s he most looking forward to in the years ahead? He answers, “What I’m looking forward to in the next 25 years is the segue into the NextGen of people. We’ve been on a campaign for about five years to hire the next leadership team. We look at who can replace us. The younger group -- the 30-40 years old range -- is a real good group of people.”

    Allen Bretz – A familiar face at Phillips 66 gets set to retire

    In 1981 Allen Bretz joined Phillips 66 as a pilot in the legendary corporate flight department – its history tracks the history of the industry -- and after joining the General Aviation Sales team in 1985 became a familiar face at FBO ramps. He eventually became marketing director and today oversees sales for a four-state region for Conoco-Phillips. He plans to retire in 2012.

    He comments, “There’s been a lot of change in the industry. The larger chains have become more involved. Many of them went on buying sprees and bought up some of the larger names in the industry, like the Meisingers. We saw a lot of the old mainstream FBOs bought up by the chains.

    “The overall quality of the business has improved dramatically – on all facets -- quality control; management has become more focused on growth; not as many pilots running the business.”

    As he looks ahead, Bretz says that a key concern is the pipeline for new pilots. “I used to fly for a commuter airline in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s; pilots were a dime a dozen. I’ve heard for a long time of a pending pilot shortage. Many younger people aren’t getting involved in aviation, and that does concern me. On the other hand, so much more can be done in computer-based flight training, and that could have a major impact in the future.”

    Regarding future industry growth, he says, “From an optimistic standpoint the turbine traffic will continue to grow, not only in the U.S., but in Asia, South America, India, China. In the U.S. we’ll have some sustained growth. As far as piston traffic, we’ll see much slower growth, if any growth at all. You just don’t hear about twin-engine piston aircraft anymore. I’m pretty bullish on the whole outlook for the next 25 years. I am encouraged by the enthusiasm at Oshkosh this year.”

    Then there’s the subject of 100LL avgas. Phillips 66 teamed with FAA for some ten years to find an alternative. It didn’t happen. Bretz relates that of the eight U.S. refineries still making avgas, Phillips 66 has three of them. His thought: “We’ve been saying for 20 years it will be gone in ten years. With industry, EPA, and FAA now working on it, it will happen. It won’t happen overnight. Then once we get a new fuel we have to look at how it will be refined and distributed. It will have to be safe and affordable.”

    Which leads to the question. What about biofuels? Says Bretz, “I think the jury is still out on that. In time, yes; but for the foreseeable future kerosene and jet fuel will be the mainstay.”

     

    Mike Delk – After 40 years in fuel distribution, a new family business

    In 1971 Mike Delk joined the family business, Valley Oil, which was co-founded by his father. He grew Valley Oil through various acquisitions of regional distributors before entering an agreement to distribute AirBP fuels as Air BP Aviation Services, a business that was sold to Epic Aviation LLC.

    Comments Delk, “Candidly, I never thought about not being in the family business. The thing about family businesses is there’s a trust factor there that you are always comfortable with, and everyone is after the same goals. It’s a culture that I tried to maintain as we got larger. I think everyone felt they were part of a family business. That culture is harder and harder to keep as you get larger.”

    It’s not surprising, then, that his new venture, Paragon Aviation Group, involves daughters Megan and Molly. Paragon seeks to build a network of subscribing independent fixed base operations which will create more buying power, broader marketing, and a unified brand to present to the industry at trade shows. “Our motto has always been, helping aviation businesses grow,” says Delk. “A reason we started Paragon is, the girls and I still had a passion for the industry when I sold out. This is a way to maintain the aspect of the business I really like, helping businesses grow. There’s still a large group of strong family businesses out there.”

    When asked his greatest surprise when he got into aviation fuel distribution Delk answers, “It was easy for us to identify with FBOs, which typically were family businesses. They had the passion for the business that carried on. In the petroleum business, it was much the same. Many jobbers were family businesses. That was the business culture back then.”

    Looking ahead, Delk says his greatest concern is “a lack of young people coming into the industry. I was at Oshkosh and what was encouraging was seeing more young people out there than I’ve seen before.

    The U.S. has historically been the innovator and leader in aviation, especially general aviation. I have some concern about the attitude that general aviation is fluff and not necessary for a business to be successful. The fact is, many rely heavily on general aviation to operate their businesses. If we lose that leadership, I think it will hurt the economy even more.”

    On the topic of the changing face of fuel distribution in the U.S., he comments, “Thirty years ago there was only one real independent fuel supplier; today there’s actually only one real fuel supplier still in distribution. That’s a real turnaround. It’s just a natural extension of what’s happening in all industries. The industry is trying to be more efficient.”

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