Quest For Excellence

The moral of this true story? Anticipate the client needs and be aware of the surroundings. We teach our staff to raise the red flag, said Zoran Bratuljevic, chief operating officer at Starlink Aviation. In this case, the worst that could happen was that both cars would show up and the client would get the service anyway. But the alternative simply wasn’t acceptable.

In the end, Bratuljevic recounted, Starlink staff explained what had happened to the Lear flight crew and they were grateful for the FBO initiative. Their boss had been in a big hurry and wouldn’t have been happy to wait for a car. Bratuljevic knows that the next time those pilots fly into Montreal, they’ll be returning to Starlink. And that what the facility relentless commitment to customer service is all about. 

Starlink roots go back to 1981 when the company was founded at CYUL under the name Avionair. Its main focus in those early days was providing aircraft charters on Piper Navajos, and the company grew steadily until it was purchased in 1991 by Montreal businessman Gilles Bruneau. In 2002, Avionair rebranded itself as Starlink Aviation and new investors came onboard. Although Bruneau was scheduled to retire in 2005, he connected so strongly with incoming president and CEO, Glen Lynch, that he agreed to stay involved temporarily as chief financial officer. In fact, Bruneau remained at Starlink and served as its CFO until 2010, and he is still a member of the board of directors today. When Lynch arrived in early 2006, Bratuljevic, who joined the organization in late 2005, was already on the scene. Together, the pair set about building the Starlink brand. 

We went from being a small charter operator to being an integrated business aviation services company with five main operating activities: FBO, aircraft management, charter, maintenance and corporate shuttle, Lynch explained in an interview with Canadian Skies. In 2009, the operation expanded by purchasing the adjoining hangar, increasing its footprint to 88,000 square feet.

Montreal is a popular destination for corporate aircraft, and the competition to service those airplanes has always been fierce. Lynch and Bratuljevic knew that the independent Starlink FBO had to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack. To do so, they looked no further than Ritz Carlton, launching a customer service training initiative that was inspired by the legendary hotel chain. Training was offered through their fuel provider, Air BP, and Starlink put every one of its senior executives through the program. 

Our focus is on the customer experience, said Lynch. Everything we have attempted to do focuses on the customer, from the time they approach our facility to the time the invoice is issued. It includes everything from how they are greeted, to how they’re treated, to how the service offerings are packaged.

Brenda Libby joined Starlink in 2009. Fluently bilingual in English and French and with a background in public relations, Libby is now the vice president of sales and marketing. She is proud of Starlink reputation for service. One of our clients once said to me, When I fly with Starlink, I feel like I am coming home.’ We know our clients by name and provide them with a service that outshines the competition, she said.

Every Starlink employee (and there are more than 120 of them) has received the same customer care training, which was adapted for Starlink and is now offered in-house. This ensures that everyone shares the same customer-focused philosophy. 

We try to make coming to our FBO an experience, not just a fuel stop. Everybody is engaged. We do sweat the small stuff, said Bratuljevic.

The management team marketed the Starlink FBO aggressively, attending trade shows and raising awareness about the company services within the general aviation community. The goal was to build relationships; not just with aircraft operators, but with other FBOs as well. 

Libby knows the value of building connections. The aviation world is built on developing relationships, one client at a time, she said. 

Starlink dedicated networking paid off. In October of 2010 it was announced that the company had cemented an agreement with worldwide FBO chain Signature Flight Support to become its first Canadian location. The FBO portion of the business was rebranded as Signature Flight Support Montreal, with all other divisions of the business carrying on under the Starlink name. 

We were looking for a way to get a more global presence for our FBO, said Lynch. We spent three and a half years researching options franchise models, chains and affiliations. Because Signature Flight Support was the biggest, the best and had similar values of offering their clients consistent, exceptional customer experiences, we went that route.  Not only were we their first expansion in Canada, but we became their first location where we essentially rebranded the FBO and became a seamless part of their network, without selling to them. It dramatically increased our market share immediately.

The proof of the successful partnership is in the numbers. In 2011, said Lynch, corporate aircraft traffic to Montreal decreased by 12 per cent. But during the same time period, Starlink increased its market share by 12 per cent and drove volumes up by an impressive 43 per cent. 

In the meantime, Starlink Aviation other divisions are also flying high. The company currently manages more than $100 million dollars in business aviation assets. Its fleet of 22 jet and turboprop aircraft includes four British Aerospace Jetstream 31s (owned by Starlink and used for its corporate shuttle program), along with 18 additional aircraft that are managed on behalf of their owners.

Our aircraft management department is a complete 24/7 turnkey operation, explained Lynch. We employ the pilots, provide the maintenance and dispatch support, and operate under our operating certificate. In total, including the shuttle, we manage between 4,000 and 4,500 departures every year.

Lynch added that the goal is to make it as easy as possible for clients to own an airplane, from soup to nuts. Starlink employs a program manager and a team of flight coordinators who are dedicated to managing all owner requirements. When owners are not using their aircraft, the team works to charter them out to other customers. 

Starlink corporate shuttle program has been running non-stop since 2003, supporting the mining community by ferrying passengers between Montreal and Bagotville, Que. Between 36 and 44 scheduled departures are offered every week on the Jetstream 31s, which are configured for 15 passengers. This year, we’re projecting 13,000-plus people will be carried on our shuttle, said Libby. Our clients are able to make their own reservations online; a flight attendant is on board to provide service and ensure safety. The shuttle is a popular service. 

The job of keeping Starlink fleet up in the air falls to the company 30-plus maintenance professionals. Antonio Mastrangelo, production manager, has seen many changes since he started at the company 16 years ago. We’ve grown quite a bit, he said. From a small 5,000 square foot hangar that used to barely fit two aircraft, to a 65,000 square foot space that can hold almost 30. We had three mechanics back then.

Mastrangelo, who is an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) and also a commercial multi-engine-rated pilot, oversees the team of AMEs, technicians and administration staff in Starlink maintenance department. He makes sure that work packages (which detail the work that must be performed on each aircraft) are complete, by researching all applicable service bulletins and airworthiness directives for each plane a time-consuming process when there are 20 in the fleet. Mastrangelo also deals directly with maintenance clients, communicating with them about the work that is being done and how it is progressing. I make sure that at the end, the client is very happy with the product he or she gets. If we say it will be done in four weeks, I make sure it stays on track, he said. 

Starlink is the only authorized Canadian service centre for the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300; as well, it is the approved Hawker Beech maintenance provider for Eastern Canada. The facility is an approved maintenance organization (AMO) certified by regulators in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Bermuda and Venezuela. The 24/7 department boasts several long-term employees, and Mastrangelo said they have many repeat customers who come back because we always do the job thoroughly and on time. Maintenance employees receive the same customer-service training as the rest of the staff.

An active member in the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), Libby said she realized early on that industry professionals weren’t doing enough to promote business aviation. By adapting materials from the No Plane, No Gain program, a joint advocacy effort initiated by the NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, she set out to inform policy leaders and business decision-makers about the value of corporate aviation. To educate local Montreal businesses, she created a presentation for local rotary clubs and then held an open house at Starlink.

Lynch also believes strongly in the value of industry associations, and is a member of the president council for the National Air Transportation Association in Washington, DC. In Canada, our biggest challenge right now is that we have trouble supporting the advocacy groups that we ultimately need to represent us in Ottawa, he said. CBAA challenge is funding there not enough coming in from a relatively small pool of operators. We’ve got the government that changed the regulatory system when it comes to business aircraft, and the CBAA faces challenges with funding because of some of these government changes. It really is a difficult dilemma right now.

Regulatory environment aside, Lynch said that similar to many industries, business aviation performance tracks the global economy. Aviation was the first truly global industry to start with and it is a backbone piece of infrastructure for global business so from our standpoint, I see business aviation continuing to trend in a positive direction. OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] are recovering; fundamentally they all have positive outlooks over the next five to 10 years, he added.

Starlink outlook is also positive. The company unwavering commitment to customer service has earned it many repeat customers, industry accolades and international recognition. Staff are proud to take ownership, raise the red flag when necessary, and get the job done. From soup to nuts, it a diverse recipe that ultimately spells success.