Salina, KS -
The airline industry’s COVID-19 economic tailspin has also included operations at 1 Vision Salina. On May 20, 1 Vision president and CEO, Jim Sponder received good news from customer Endeavor Airlines that will stabilize the MRO’s Salina operations.
On Wednesday May 20, 1 Vision was visited by Greg Lambert, director of business administration, heavy checks, and planning at Endeavor Air, of Minneapolis, Minn. Endeavor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. Up to 35 of Delta’s jets have been stored since March outside of Big Bertha at the Salina Regional Airport, and 1 Vision workers have been performing “storage tasks” on the planes. “Every 14 days, there are certain tasks required to be done on the aircraft in storage,” Lambert said.
He and other officials were in Salina to announce that 1 Vision will be receiving more business from Endeavor.
“We’ve worked with 1 Vision for several years,” he said. “Their ability to produce quality work on time has been a strength for us, and because of that, we are looking to send additional work to them.”
The visit was a great development for 1 Vision. “That’s a huge thing. It means a lot of fast growth for us,” Sponder said. COVID-19 has yet to thwart his plans of growing 1 Vision in Salina to 450 workers by next year.
“Our comeback has to do with how soon the public starts flying again,” Sponder said. Seven of the Delta jets stored in Salina were put back into service this month, Lambert said, and two more will be put back in service on May 29. That’s a “good sign,” Sponder said, and it might just build momentum.
“People in aviation will read up on this and it will get them to thinking about coming back,” Sponder said. “This could be a confidence builder, and it could help us bring in great talent (airframe and power plant mechanics) to the Salina area.”
