Kathryn Brewer is charting the next leg of growth for Leading Edge Avionics.
The company, which shares a 10,000-square-foot hangar at John Wayne Airport with Martin Aviation, is expanding operations in June to Chino Airport in San Bernardino County to meet rising demand in an industry plagued with workforce shortages.
“We can still accommodate [new and existing customers] and provide an opportunity for the company to grow,” said Brewer, who recently acquired Leading Edge from aviation entrepreneur Mike Manclark for an undisclosed price.
Leading Edge specializes in general aviation retrofits for avionics, such as navigation, Wi-Fi, flight management, GPS and transponder systems.
Call it a comeback for Brewer, who returns to the aviation sector after a nearly five-year run leading a marketing firm with her son, Jeff.
She’s flourished in the male-dominated industry, but it took time to navigate the terrain. She said she avoided comparing herself to colleagues, especially men, asked a lot questions, and wasn’t intimidated if her technical expertise didn’t match that of her co-workers.
“I focused on creating a collaborative culture, one in which the team learned or came to understand their importance to the overall vision and mission,” she said.
During her career, she’s been invited to Lockheed Martin to see F-22s roll off the assembly line, spent years at a manufacturer that produced 80% of the aerostructure of the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, and oversaw operations that produced hundreds of discrete parts for nearly every model of U.S. military and commercial aircraft.
“I find this industry very exciting, and very interesting,” she said. “It challenges me in a way no other industry has challenged me in terms of technical expertise, variety of disciplines.”
Business Boost
Business has been fueled by a looming deadline to meet federal aviation guidelines for a technological upgrade that improves aircraft tracking.
Most planes are required to install an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast system by 2020.
The technology essentially improves ground-based radar systems with precise tracking using satellite signals. The Federal Aviation Administration adopted the regulation in 2010.
The upgrade allows pilots to see the same type of displays that flight controllers monitor, such as aircraft in the sky, hazardous weather and terrain, and other important flight information, such as temporary restrictions. The FAA says the technology reduces the risk of runway incursions, provides wider geographic coverage, and improves overall performance by saving time and money due to increased efficiency, while reducing fuel burn and emissions.
Meeting the deadline has prompted many plane owners and management companies to upgrade other systems so they can have them done all at once, particularly Wi-Fi, which is coveted by business charter passengers and leisure travelers alike. The improvements have also benefited Leading Edge’s bottom line.
“We cover the general aviation spectrum,” said Brewer, who’s spent more than 25 years in the aerospace sector, including nearly a decade on the manufacturing side. “If you can fly it, we can do your plane.”
She serendipitously landed in the industry after graduating college and ended up falling for the field, holding various operating and finance roles over the years, including chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
The industry is growing at an annual double-digit clip, and Leading Edge is forecasting a revenue spike this year of 10% to 15% to $6 million.
The company competes against Affordable Avionics, Advantage Avionics and Howards, among others.
Keeping Up
It added seven technicians in the past year, but like competitors is struggling to fill open jobs.
The global aviation industry is facing critical shortfalls of maintenance technicians, pilots and cabin crews as travel continues to rise due to decreased passenger prices.
Aircraft maker Boeing Co. presented some sobering statistics in its 2017 to 2036 outlook: North America alone will require an additional 117,000 pilots, 118,000 technicians and 154,000 cabin crew members in that period.
“This is going to be a problem that is only going to get worse,” Brewer said.
The shortfalls come during a boom in complex aviation equipment and products, an aging workforce, and a diminishing pipeline of former military personnel, some of whom have transitioned to the aerospace sector after service.
The need has become so glaring that Congress is trying to close the gap. Senators Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Richard Bluementhal, D-Conn., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., sponsored the Aviation Maintenance Workforce Development Pilot Program introduced on March 7.
The program is focused on recruiting the nation’s next generation of aviation experts and providing them with necessary skill sets to succeed in a key industry with a deep legacy throughout Southern California.
Many of Leading Edge’s 15 employees have been in the industry for more than a decade, some for more than three.
“We’re not alone,” Brewer said. “It’s a technical industry and requires a lot of experience to understand the wording and the configurations, especially in smaller position planes.”
Leading Edge offers several benefits to employees, including training with manufacturers, and help with gaining various flight certifications. Employees can also earn a pilot license completely funded by the company.
“It’s one of the benefits that we offer to entice people and motivate them,” said Brewer, who’s in the midst of acquiring a pilot license herself.
Later this year the company will offer staffers an employee stock ownership plan, a rarely implemented program in the U.S. that essentially provides an ownership stake.
Brewer contributed to an ESOP earlier in her career and said she wanted to grant her employees more equal footing on business decisions, whether it be overtime pay or taking on a new project.
“In the past they’ve always hoped there was an equity play, but it didn’t really materialize,” Brewer said. “There was tremendous enthusiasm for it.”
The National Center for Employee Ownership estimates there were only about 7,000 ESOPs in the U.S. last year covering 14 million workers, or less than 9% of a workforce of 161.9 million through February, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Leading Edge is nearing certification by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, a lengthy process that ensures a company is woman-owned and provides new business opportunities, such as the ability to bid on government contracts.
Company History
The company, which was renamed last year, has a deep history in Southern California.
Western Avionics was established in 1970 as a repair and maintenance outfit by Stan Erickson and Scott Gregory.
Erickson sold his interest last year to Manclark, who also acquired a partial stake from Gregory.
Manclark sold his entire stake to Brewer in January.
Manclark previously owned Costa Mesa-based Leading Edge Aviation Services Inc., which painted military and commercial aircraft and had more than $100 million in annual sales.
He sold a majority interest in 2012 to Los Angeles-based Vance Street Capital LLC. After two follow-on acquisitions, the private equity firm formed International Aerospace Coatings Holdings LP, registered in Shannon, Ireland, with U.S. headquarters in Irvine.
After the Leading Edge Aviation sale, Manclark left the company and pursued philanthropy and a lifelong dream of owning and restoring OV-10 aircraft—war birds originally designed for U.S. military operations in Vietnam.
He established the nonprofit Mangic, which fuses restoration of a small squadron of OV-10 Broncos for general aviation with philanthropic endeavors, including providing support to the Children’s Emergency Hostel in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and injured Marines; meals, education and clothing for homeless people and orphanages; and child adoption services.
Manclark was sentenced in 2016 to five months in jail and five months of home confinement after pleading guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting others in making false material statements in a record or report to gain regulatory compliance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
At the time of the offense, he served as chief executive of Leading Edge, which had pleaded guilty to one felony count of treating, storing or disposing hazardous waste without a permit at the company’s painting facility at the Greenville Mid-Delta Regional Airport.
The company was ordered to pay a $1 million penalty, according to the Department of Justice.
Brewer and Manclark, who worked together for years at Leading Edge Aviation Services, hammered out the deal in six months. He was happy to embark on a new journey, and she was ready to get back into the field after a nearly five-year stint as chief executive at Digital Eye Media, a marketing firm in Newport Beach.
“I wanted to break out and get back into aviation,” she said. “You want to do what you really love.”
