It’s hard to believe, but yet another decade is coming to a close. As we move into the 2020s, we are incredibly excited to see not only what changes are in store for our industry, but for our company as well.
When I first came onboard as CEO with Leading Edge Avionics, we were a relatively small but mighty shop. A family of less than 10 people. Since that time, we’ve grown the team to 25 people, and we’ve expanded our geographic footprint to provide our customers with additional convenience and a broader scope of capabilities.
Our growth has been both steady and deliberate, with a focus on making strategic investments in best-in-class customer service, people and equipment. We’ve also experienced unprecedented demand driven by the FAA’s ADS-B mandate. Although the official deadline for compliance is end of this year, it’s been estimated that as many as 100,000 aircraft still haven’t made the switch.
By all accounts, even though the deadline will soon be behind us, the first two quarters of 2020 should be even busier as aircraft owners rush for the upgrade to avoid being grounded. Even with crews working around the clock, most shops in our industry are booked solid well into the spring. So, keep that in mind when you’re scheduling additional maintenance in the months ahead. You may need a longer lead time than usual.
That being said, from a Leading Edge standpoint, we’re doing all we can to accommodate our customer needs. We have the very best technicians in the business, and a team that’s always willing to go the extra mile to get you where you need to go.
To all our customers, partners and friends, we would like to say thank you for another great year. We look forward to serving you in 2020.