MADISON, WIS. – One of Wisconsin’s largest fixed base operations, Wisconsin Aviation, Inc. (WisconsinAviation.com) with locations at Madison, Juneau and Watertown, will be welcoming participants of the Wisconsin Aviation Conference (wiama.org) to Madison, April 29 – May 1. The 58th annual conference will be held at the Madison Marriott West in Middleton, Wis.
Wisconsin Aviation, Inc. began during one of the most challenging of economic times in recent history, the early 1980s. Only two weeks prior to the nation’s first air traffic controller’s strike, Jeff Baum and his partner at the time, Pete Schoeninger, looked at a bankrupt fixed base operation and a stagnant municipal airport in Watertown, Wisconsin. However, their futuristic positive vision overshadowed what they saw. Faced with daunting odds, which included interest rates of over 21%, skepticism on the part of the insurance carrier, and the country facing one of the worst recessions ever, Wisconsin Aviation, Inc., was born.
Two years later in 1983, Wisconsin Aviation was well established and growing. It began operating a second operation at Dodge County Airport in Juneau, Wisconsin. This was followed in 1985 with the purchase of an affiliate third operation in Milledgeville, Georgia. A corporate maintenance facility was added in 1987 to provide the parts and service for a growing fleet of charter and rental aircraft, as well as customer aircraft. In 1991, Wisconsin Aviation organized a European affiliate in Germany, Wisconsin Aviation-Europe, which operates two American aircraft to this day. On January 1, 1994, Wisconsin Aviation purchased the assets of Four Lakes Aviation at Dane County Regional Airport, and in 1995, the assets of Coldstream Aviation Corporation, also at Dane County Regional Airport. Subsequent to 1998, Wisconsin Aviation added avionics and interior repair and installation facilities at its Madison location.
In the fall of 2001, Wisconsin Aviation established a charter operation at Oshkosh. On December 3, 2002, Wisconsin Aviation dedicated its new $2.5 million, state-of-the-art general aviation terminal on the east side of Dane County Regional Airport (msnairport.com).
Since its inception in 1981, the corporation has grown to become one of the Midwest’s most progressive full-service aviation service centers. It is now capable of providing a complete line of aviation-oriented services including air charter, corporate aviation management, aircraft sales, aircraft maintenance, avionics sales and maintenance, aircraft rental, flight training, hangar rental, and fuel services, including providing fuel for the airlines.
Wisconsin Aviation’s staff has grown from a handful in 1981 to over 165 loyal employees today. The meager aircraft inventory of the early years has emerged to a fleet of well over 50 airplanes from two-seat trainers to luxurious executive jets. Over the last 10 years, Wisconsin Aviation’s annual operations averaged almost 19,000 flight hours, and three million miles.
Wisconsin Aviation has received numerous local and regional awards, as well as national recognition for outstanding service. Its president, Jeff Baum, has served on the Boards of Directors of the General Aviation Task Force, National Air Transportation Association (NATA), National Learn to Fly Promotional Team, Inc., and Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association (WATA). In 1997, for the second time, WATA named Wisconsin Aviation “Aviation Business of the Year.” Baum is currently a member of the prestigious Twenty Group, Inc., a national organization dedicated to providing outstanding service to air travelers.
