This is the first post of a series that will highlight the independent local spirits that have made and continue to make a positive impact on the aviation industry in Southwest Montana.
Most users of the airspace system - airline passengers - will never get the opportunity to meet the often strong headed 'Davids' who are risking their bacon, to tee off with the shareholder funded 'Goliaths' who increasingly dominate the world of general aviation. It's a world that once was rich with 'mom and pop' operations. These mom and pop businesses maintained a high level of let's call it, 'amateur-professionalism', they did it for love and for money, and in most cases they did it well. Even now, amidst high odds, a new crop of these amateur-professionals is establishing a foothold and building their own legacy.
We hope this series will provide a window into their world.
Earlier in 2021 while much of the developed world was still spinning in confusion, trying to assess the economic fallout of real and perceived threats, Gabe Chandler was closing on a transaction with the former owner of Yellowstone Air Service. An FBO that has served the communities of Livingston and Big Timber Montana for a number of decades. Ask anyone who's flown here for a while and they'll tell you all about it.
Gabe decided last year (like many of us) that it was time to leave his role as an executive at an Oklahoma Oil Field Logistics company in order to pursue his passion. Now, he's building a different kind of business and revitalizing an airport that has largely been in the shadows for most of recent history. Especially if compared to the bursting at the seams Bozeman Airport, where wave after wave of hangar development seems to keep materializing and IFR release times are a very real problem. Consider that when asked, a lot of people still don't even know that Livingston has an airport. Moreover, an airport that is easily capable of supporting some of the most high performing business jets currently produced. Not only is it capable, it has enough elbow room to functionally support them and the traditional piston powered fleet.
Gabe's vision doesn't stop at selling fuel though, as he sits in an easy chair strategically place by the large windows in the airport building, he has a tendency to look over at Sheep Mountain and the Crazies, while he talks about building a community. He makes some statements, and he asks a lot of questions. He wonders why the pilots and small airplanes left (they used to be here), and more importantly, he's making a plan to get them back. Enter his whole philosophy, which conveniently is also his business tagline, "Where the wind blows but the service doesn't."
The wind is no stranger to anyone who lives in, or frequents the Livingston area. The National Weather Service will tell you that it's consistently the windiest airport in the lower 48 states - at least of those that have an operating weather station. Books have been written about Livingston's wind, the local chamber of commerce embraces it because if they didn't laugh they'd have to cry. Personally, I like to think that the wind helps 'blow the trash out'. Gabe, wisely has embraced that wind, and he's finding that his tagline is a great conversation starter, and more importantly it's an accurate advertisement for the culture he's developing.
Going forward, Yellowstone Air Service will continue to support the people of Livingston, Big Timber, and the rural communities that surround them in Park and Sweetgrass Counties. Already they've taken the important step of installing self-serve fuel at the Livingston Airport, so pilots can stop and get fuel at their leisure, no matter the time of day or night. He's opened up a few airplanes for rental to students and local pilots. Gabe envisions a time in the near future where his efforts at plowing drifted snow are appreciated by an increasing number of local pilots with a similar zest for the idea of taking flight in a place deemed by many to be too inhospitable.
Next time you're at the Livingston airport, stop by, say hello, and don't forget to scratch Lady's ears (Gabe's dog), she'll love it.