EFI Celebrates 25 Years
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Twenty-five
years ago, our country was
battling the effects of
years of inflationary pressure,
a stagnant economy, and
a prime interest rate of
eighteen percent. Conditions
were less than optimal for
American business and many
industries were struggling
to survive, hoping that
the newly elected President,
a former B actor by the
name of Reagan, would throw
a life line. It wasn’t
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great
time for a start-up charter company,
with a sole Cessna 172, to be
born.
President Reagan did reinvigorate
our economy with his now famous
supply-side theory, cutting taxes
while increasing defense spending
to battle the evil empire of the
Soviet Union, both to the detriment
of the budget. The economy came
back with a vengeance in the mid
1980's and our start-up charter
company, woefully under-capitalized
from inception, was able to make
ends meet and slowly grow its
fleet from the Cessna 172 to a
Beech Baron to Piper Navajos and
then to King
Airs and Learjets.
The leap from Learjets in the
eighties to Hawkers,
Falcons
and Gulfstreams
in the nineties was delayed by
the first Gulf War, and two or
three economic downturns.
The company continued to grind
out an existence, never taking
anything for granted, always knowing
that we had to "earn our
wings every day". In the
mid nineties, as corporate jets
and fractional shares became part
of the fabric of not only business
travel but personal travel as
well, our little company flourished
by embracing what we had from
day one.hard work, attention to
detail, and a strong emphasis
on meeting the needs of our customers.
The founders have been fortunate
to find, over the years, like-minded
people who became essential to
the success of the enterprise.
These employees, so vital to our
past growth, are also the key
to our continuing evolution, as
we are faced with the new challenges
of aviation in the twenty-first
century.
Today, as one of the largest independently
owned and operated charter companies
in the country with fifteen aircraft
under management and one hundred
employees (including two of the
founders), we cannot overstate
the significance of hard work
and persistence in a capitalist
democracy that exists no where
but in this great country.
To all of Executive Fliteways'
customers, vendors, employees,
allies and competitors--- we thank
you for the remarkable and memorable
25 years. |
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