business

Land developer Bobby Dufresne and attorney Tim Netzell hope that a shortage of commercial pilots and a growing interest in general aviation flying will translate into a good business proposition for them at the St. Paul Downtown Airport.

Dufresne and Netzell, who have private-pilot licenses, are launching Wings Aviation Services on the site where a flight school closed last year.

Dufresne, who owns a Cirrus SR22 airplane, said that his new business will go well beyond flight training.

He envisions that Wings Aviation will provide an array of services for owner-operators of small airplanes, including maintenance, ground handling and expertise on how to buy, insure and finance planes.

Dufresne, a Cottage Grove resident, is the chief executive of a real estate acquisition company. Netzell, of St. Paul, focuses on real estate in his law practice.

The men had crossed paths during various business transactions, but they got to know each other much better after they took flight lessons from Jeff Dalton, whom they've hired to work as Wings' chief pilot and general manager.

"We've been bitten by the aviation bug," said Dufresne, who saw the need for more services for private pilots while he was going through the experience of buying his own plane.

"I had nobody to hold my hand. It was a frustrating and long process," he said.

He wants Wings to help owner-operators navigate both the technical flying and business aspects of aviation -- down to the detail of whether to pay sales or use taxes on an aircraft purchase.

The new business consists of three hangars and two classroom and office buildings on about 93,000 square feet at St. Paul's Holman Field.

They acquired a hangar from Aviation Maintenance and four other buildings from Brian Addis, who operated a flight school there for many years and has been hired to work with them as a consultant. They've spent about $130,000 to reroof two buildings, paint hangars, install new carpeting and make other improvements.

Since 2001, numerous carriers have slashed pilot jobs and wages. Financial woes in the airline industry prompted the number of students entering the pilot training pipeline to slow and Addis closed his flight school in early 2007.

But Dalton said the industry is turning around. "Now the airlines are hiring as fast as they can," Dalton said.

Air Inc., an Atlanta-based company, said that more than 12,000 pilots were hired in the United States during the first 11 months of 2007 -- a 60 percent increase over 2006.

At Mesaba Airlines, pilots union chairman Mark Nagel said that no pilots were hired in 2006 when the carrier was in bankruptcy. Between March and December of last year, Nagel said, about 500 pilots were hired at Mesaba, and another 400 to 500 are expected to be added this year.

Netzell said a growing number of business people want to fly themselves to meetings in their own planes.

Netzell and Dufresne argue there will be enough demand for aviation services that they want to construct a 30,000- to 50,000-square-foot building at the St. Paul airport. But first they'll need to wait until a flood wall is constructed.

Gary Schmidt, director of reliever airports for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, said a flood wall likely will be completed in 2009. He said the MAC has approved a 10-year lease for Wings.

Netzell said the flight school is being started this month with one Cessna and two Cirrus planes, and the entrepreneurs also have hired mechanics.

They plan to offer services, such as a pilot mentor program, that will promote long-term pilot relationships with the business.

Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709