Eaglejet founded by former Learjet workers

David Dinell
Wichita Business Journal  
August 18, 2000

After nine years at Learjet, Cochise Rounds decided the time was right to strike out on his own. So he and a couple of his friends in the aviation business, Andy Rusch and Jamie Pegg -- both former Learjet employees, too -- got together to create a company. The result is Eaglejet Aviation Inc., a new business specializing in aircraft maintenance work.

Based in a 10,000-square-foot hanger at the Newton City/ County Airport, the company handles a range of repair work on corporate and business jets, says Rounds, the company's president and chief executive officer.

Rounds says the growth of fractional ownership has made the business more viable at this time. About 30 percent of new corporate jet sales involve the fractional market, according to industry statistics. (Like its name implies, fractional ownership is a system in which several parties own a share of a single aircraft.)

There are now more private aircraft in operation -- and more need for maintenance services, Rounds says.

"We're ready for this and we know the market is, too," he says.

The company is based at the Newton airport for a couple of reasons, he says.

For one, Harvey County helped the company locate there with an attractive leasing agreement. For another, it's an easy airport for customers to access, he says.

"If someone has an unscheduled maintenance situation, like an autopilot problem, they can just fly on in here and we can work on it," he says.

New hangar under construction

Mason Short, the airport's manager, says the facility's management is "really excited" about the addition of Eaglejet, which is one of 19 businesses at the growing airport on the east side of Newton, about 20 miles north of Wichita.

"They're filling a need for jet maintenance," he says. "There's a nationwide demand for it."

The airport is in the process of building a 12,000-square-foot hangar to house Eaglejet. The company will move into the new $300,000 facility, which also will have 1,500 square feet of office space, after its scheduled completion Oct. 1.

The airport will own the hangar and lease it to Eaglejet under a five-year agreement. The hangar will be large enough to hold three large Challenger jets or six smaller Learjets, Rounds says.