Indiana Flight Center employees are worried about one thing — making a great first impression.
“We are the front door to Elkhart County,” said Brandon Herzog, flight department manager.
As the fixed based operator at the Elkhart Municipal Airport, Indiana Flight Center is responsible for making sure the needs of private flyers and corporate clients are met. The company, which has been in operation for 20 years, offers fuel, maintenance, training, storage hangars, corporate airplane management services and rentals.
“Activity has really grown this year from previous years,” said Herzog. “Our corporate and private aircraft traffic has been pretty steady.”
A lot of the activity has to do with a booming recreational vehicle industry, which Herzog says the airport helps to support.
“We give corporate clients access so that they can serve the employers in this county,” he said.
On top of being the face of the county for visitors, Indiana Flight Center also serves as a representative to the community. Events such as the upcoming Fly-In/Drive-In serve as a way for the community to connect with the airport it helps support through tax dollars.
“Everybody who utilizes the airport is always very impressed with what we are doing here,” Herzog said.
While the airport does not offer all of the services it could, Herzog said Indiana Flight Center is working on adding more. A recently enlarged airplane ramp is one indication that Indiana Flight Center is working to improve the way it serves clients with a place to park more airplanes closer to the facility.
“This way we don’t have to tow aircraft to other hangars,” said Herzog. “We are hoping to expand the ramp even further in the future.”
Herzog would also like to see some of the needs of aging hangars addressed, as numerous hangars need to be refurbished or completely replaced.
All things considered, Herzog says this year has been a great year so far for the airport and that Indiana Flight Center is looking forward to the future.
“We have had great relationships with officials in this city. We understand the roles we each play,” he said. “We work well together.”