Pilots to cool their jets at distinctive terminal

PrivateSky plans to open at SWFIA in mid-March

By ANNE MITCHELL, amitchell@news-press.com

HIGH ON PRIVATESKY: Vincent Wolanin, left, owner of PrivateSky, and Royce Stevens, PrivateSky’s general manager, are preparing to open for business.

After almost two years of construction, PrivateSky, a new luxury terminal and maintenance center for private jets at Southwest Florida International Airport, is scheduled to open the week of March 17.

The occasional passer-by still mistakes the bright yellow PrivateSky building west of the airport for the new midfield terminal. At 80,000 square feet, it’s big alright, but nowhere near the size of Lee County Port Authority’s 762,000-square-foot, $386 million commercial terminal that’s under construction to the south.

But for people who fly in and out of Southwest Florida International Airport on private jets, it will be the terminal, offering aircraft maintenance, concierge, fuel, catering, transportation and other services from its spacious two-story, hotel-style lobby and cavernous 2.5 million cubic-foot hangar. A staff of about 50 people will wait on them and their airplanes. Within three years, PrivateSky CEO Vincent Wolanin expects to have 150 on his payroll.

Besides PrivateSky’s corporate offices, there are conference rooms and high-tech offices in which these jet-setters can conduct business while they wait for their planes to be serviced or repaired. Or they can lease a jet with crew while their plane is in for repair. For corporate pilots, there’s a quiet room with sofas and chairs for snoozing between assignments.

PrivateSky specializes in maintenance and repair of Gulfstream jet aircraft, which have the capacity for transatlantic and other long-haul flights.

Wolanin, 55, of Sanibel, says his new terminal will be the largest independent Gulfstream facility in the world. Gulfstream’s size and range means Wolanin has potential to attract aircraft from far and wide.

The 55-foot high maintenance hangar with room for up to 40 small planes has its first jet in for repairs. It’s a 1985 Gulfstream that’s getting a massive overhaul for a private owner who purchased it from the U.S.

Coast Guard. Joe Timm, PrivateSky’s chief inspector, is overseeing the work, which will take about three months. He was formerly in charge of quality control for the White House fleet of helicopters.

Celebrities of all stripes frequent the terminal. Last week, there was a succession of pro golfers headed to Naples for a big tournament, Wolanin said. Other times it’s entertainers, or heads of state. They can slip in and out of Southwest Florida practically unnoticed.

Wolanin said he’s hoping to arrange for U.S. Customs service in the new facility for the many clients who fly in from abroad.

He won’t say how much he’s spent on the new terminal, which was constructed by one of the dozen or so companies he owns. He is president and CEO of Wolanin Companies Ltd., whose affiliates include real estate, building materials and construction companies in New York, Florida, Utah and Montana. His investment interests are global, and they include banking, entertainment, development, retailing, athletic clubs, shopping centers and office and apartment buildings.

He’s tight-lipped about money. But the 8 percent of gross revenues he pays to the Lee County Port Authority on behalf of PrivateSky — it came to more than $380,000 last year — suggests his sales were in excess of $4 million. And that was working from the cramped former JetSouth buildings he’s been using.

Don Roode, director of property management for Southwest Florida International Airport, said he’s not surprised Wolanin is cagey about his business information.

“Fixed base operator businesses are very competitive across the country,” Roode said.

Roode said PrivateSky is a major asset. “It’s the first private investment of any size that has been done on the airport and it’s going to enable PrivateSky to become a major player in the country in repair and maintenance of Gulfstream (aircraft).”

Roode said he anticipates PrivateSky will soon be adding even more hangar space that can be sold or leased to aircraft owners.

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