Landlocked Aviation Services, a FAA-certified aircraft refinishing shop, was devastated by Hurricanes Laura and Delta. The team rebuilt by helping neighbors clear storm debris, securing SBA loans, and winning the Small Business Phoenix Award for their recovery and resilience.
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Landlocked Aviation is a certificated 145 repair station that specializes in aircraft refinishing. We bring airplanes in, we take all the old paint off, we put fresh paint on, we provide corrosion protection for the airframe and work with the, the carrier, the owner of the aircraft, on the longevity of that airframe. So we're aircraft painters, they're phenomen.
You know, We've delivered over 300 aircraft here between coming in and painting since 2017. We had the gap in Covid, obviously, but they take a lot of pride in what they do. We appreciate that.
We're very fortunate to have a fantastic clientele. Base Delta is one of our main clients from a commercial standpoint. We do business with Northrop Grumman. We are involved in a multitude of DoD type projects, painting aircraft for the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines. Very proud to do that. And then Covid happened, which, you know, the entire industry suffered along with the community. And then right behind the commencement of COVID we suffered Hurricane Laura. And it was devastating. Right behind Hurricane Laura was Hurricane Delta. And we hadn't quite, you know, even begun the process of getting our head wrapped around how to recover from Laura. The Delta barreled down on top of us. This wall here is a temporary wall because we lost the entire corner of this building. We had some vehicles parked in here. We brought our motorcycle helmets. We strategically parked a Bobcat skid steer as kind of our getaway vehicle, if you will. We'd set up cots back in these cinder block rooms that are tornado shelters. We lost power about 11 o' clock at night. Both these big roll up doors blew out. The roof of this building was breathing and the sound, and when you thought it was going to die down, it intensified. All the materials you see in here were scattered about a building that was outside, lifted up and landed on top of our building.
The most pressing thing that we focused on right after the hurricane was contacting all our employees, making sure they were safe, making sure they were doing okay, asking them if they needed anything, if there's anything that we can do.
You know, I've got an obligation as a business owner, small business owner, to the folks that helped our business grow to the point that it was when Hurricane Laura and the subsequent Hurricane Delta struck. And so there was no time for panic.
It hurt all the other airlines, it hurt Tyson, you know, and their business with Landlocke. I mean, Tyson, he actually started up a tree removal service just to try to help some people out because there was so much damage here in Lake Charles.
We're not just leaders for the company, we're leaders of the community. We went and bought a bunch of chainsaws and heavy equipment, and we deployed the team to the community and put in 10 hour days, seven days a week for about three months. I'm fortunate to have a fantastic CFO part of the landlocked family. That's Kathy Brady. She went through all the steps, did all the legwork, reached out to the sba, pulled me in as needed.
A couple days after the hurricane, I was in my car filling out paperwork online because it was the only Internet that I had at the time, I didn't have any power.
These bread and butter businesses are the focus of our program. So our program is there to assist not only with the physical damages piece, which is actual damages to the property, but economic injury when revenue drops off, sales drop off with expenses continue.
And the SBA was fantastic to work with, but, you know, they guided us through every step of the way.
It's a real pleasure to welcome them into the pantheon of winners for our Small Business Phoenix Award. Sir.
There's a big impact on a lot of people, but we're very honored to be receiving the award.
To showcase their efforts is a way for us to pay homage to what they're all about. Resilience, and they're recovered.
Certainly an honor. And hopefully, you know, we can just showcase the resilience and teamwork that comes with small businesses to get through these kind of disasters.
