Sky King Inc. has reached an agreement to move its business from the Sacramento, Calif., area to Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport (LAL) in Florida. The company will lease 50,000 square feet of aircraft hangar and office space at LAL for its headquarters.
Over the past 20 years, Sky King’s business has evolved so that nearly all flight operations depart from airports east of the Mississippi River, making a California base of operations costly. With its move from Sacramento to Lakeland, Sky King will be consolidating its heavy maintenance, operations and administration functions into a single facility. This will enable the company to reduce its overhead with more efficient communications and operations coordination, and will dramatically reduce cross country heavy maintenance ferry flights and related aircraft repositioning expenses, according to company officials. Sky King is in the process of expanding the number of east coast markets it serves, while upgrading its fleet of aircraft.
“Our move to Lakeland is a significant step in our restructuring and will allow us to better align our services to the specific geographic market needs of our customers,” siad Gregg Lukenbill, president. “Sky King looks forward to partnering with the city of Lakeland, the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport and all of Polk County as we relocate over 50 jobs to the central Florida region with an estimated annual economic impact of over $7 million.”
“What a great day for the airport, the city of Lakeland and Polk County,” said Gene Conrad, airport director. “The full impact of this move won’t be truly understood for years to come, but the potential opportunities for Sky King, the airport and the region are tremendous.”
Sky King, a privately held corporation, is a FAA certificated part 121 supplemental air carrier. Founded in 1990, Sky King operates a fleet of B737 and B767 aircraft on behalf of tour operators, sports organizations, corporations, and the U.S. and foreign governments. For more information: FlySkyKing.net or LakelandAirport.com
