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Air charter company still flying high after forty years

In 1966, Columbia County built its airport. In 1967, Mahlon Richards partnered with Joe Mormando to form Richmor Aviation. Today, Richmor is still headquartered at the same Hudson, NY location. Richards is President of the corporation, with his daughter and son both active in the business.

Richmor operates out of four locations in upstate New York - Saratoga, Poughkeepsie, Schenectady and Hudson. They offer full fixed based operations (FBO) at these locations, including fuel, service and maintenance, and pilot amenities. They are an FAA certified repair station, with maintenance "roughly ten to fifteen percent" of the business. Sharyn Richards Marks began working part-time in the office at age 14, has been in the charter department since 1992, and now heads charter sales. She notes that, "Age is not a factor (with planes). They must be inspected by (fight) hours or by the calendar (so) a thirty year old plane is very different from a thirty year old car."

Richmor's flight school accounts for another ten to fifteen percent of their business. A private pilot's license can be obtained at any of their locations. The minimum is forty hours of flight and "about five thousand dollars," which includes not just the plane, flight time, and instructor, but also, books. A program through the Questar III organization allows high school students to get their private pilot's license and Columbia-Greene Community College also offers an aviation program, both through partnerships with Richmor. Many students begin careers in the aviation industry after graduating from one of these programs.

By far the bulk of Richmor's business is in charter flights, what Marks refers to as "a corporate limo service" that has flown "families, businessmen, athletes, and movie and music (entertainers)". With "on demand charter," on a whim people can fly to "Martha's Vineyard in the summer or Aspen in the winter." While they only own three planes, the corporation manages a fleet of over a dozen planes ranging from a five-passenger to a fourteen passenger luxury jet. Owners pay an annual management fee that includes pilots and hangering and get a percentage of the charter fee, while Richmor handles all of the scheduling and maintenance of the aircraft. This enables owners to have a plane at their disposal that is paying for itself when not needed. In turn, Richmor is able to offer charter service from many locations throughout the U.S. including the San Diego and Washington, D.C. areas, using a variety of planes.

With on-demand flights come additional costs. Richmor has thirty-one, fulltime, salaried pilots who log "about 300 hours a year" (this compares to commercial pilots who fly "fifteen days a month"). Thirty-one mechanics, line personnel (who fuel/clean planes), and maintenance records personnel are employed by Richmor, as well as a Director of Maintenance. There are three managers at each location, and fifty office personnel.

If your dream is to take flight, a starter plane runs $20,000-25,000, but it all depends on how much the bug bites you." Laughs Marks. In addition to the purchase price there is routine required maintenance, done either by hours flown or by calendar so you can't escape it. Hanger space is about $100 monthly, or if you don't mind the weather you can get a tie-down for half that.

Marks says, "Nine-eleven was good for charters," as people want a more intimate relationship with their "airline" and to know their pilot. When asked about recent headlines regarding planes sitting on runways, Marks says, "We can make adjustments (for delays) whereas commercial airlines can't."

With the turmoil in the airline industry over the past decades, Marks is proud of her family's forty years in the business, terming it "an accoumplishemt" Paraphrasing their slogan, "They have really gone places."

Article compliments of Hudson Valley Business Journal. 4/30/07 Ann Bartgis