WICHITA — Yingling Aviation is marking its 75th anniversary in 2021 by expanding its operations at Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (KICT).
The company has added another 50,000 square feet of hangar and office space to the 200,000 square feet of facilities for its Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) business and FBO. It recently acquired three additional hangars adjacent to the east runway (01/19) and in close proximity to its existing space, according to company officials.
“Expanding our ongoing business and operations is a significant and appropriate way to celebrate 75 years in Wichita,” said Yingling President Andrew Nichols. “The acquisition of these three hangars comes at an ideal time, not just from a historical perspective, but also a practical one. Our MRO support of the Citation and King Air models and our FBO activities continue to expand.”
Yingling is one of the original tenants on what is now known as Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, having moved its operations from Wichita Municipal Airport to Wichita Mid-Continent Airport when it opened in 1954.
Yingling has recorded a long list of “firsts” in the industry, beginning with being designated the first Cessna Aircraft Company dealer in 1946, company officials noted.
“The company’s long association with Cessna set the stage for its transformation and expansion over seven and a half decades into one of the nation’s most expansive and inclusive maintenance, repair and overhaul, sales, service and parts facilities and fixed base operations,” officials said in a prepared release.
Yingling Aviation has been operated by three separate owners during its three quarters of a century. Vic Yingling founded the company in 1946 and the Yingling family operated it until 1982, when Jerry Vanier, a Salina businessman, purchased it. On Jan. 1, 2000, Lynn Nichols purchased the firm, electing to retain the familiar name.
In 2001 and 2002 he renovated the facilities, as well as adding a new completions hangar in 2005. Under Lynn’s leadership, Yingling expanded its facilities and services, offering air charter services, aircraft modifications, aircraft interior completions, refurbishment, and repair, avionics installations and repairs, aircraft sales, expanded hangar capacity for locally-based and transient aircraft, and both piston and turbine engine fuel sales.
In 2014, the company purchased a 10,000-square-foot warehouse to support its growing propeller operations.
Starting in 2018, Yingling began its largest remodel and expansion project since the company’s founding in 1946. In 2018, the first project consisted of two new reception and lobby areas that support the FBO and customer areas. In 2019, the company completed a new 23,000-square-foot facility for expanded jet and turbine MRO services.
In 2020, Yingling completed its major facelift and renovation over its newly acquired 50,000-square-feet of facilities, which support a paint facility and interior completions facility. Today, the company’s footprint consists of more than 250,000 square feet of facilities and approximately 500,000 square feet of ramp space at KICT.
“From my youth aviation was always important to me and to my family. My dad was an executive with Cessna, and I grew up around airplanes and flying, so it was not surprising that I felt a strong inclination to acquire Yingling Aviation in 2000 when it became available,” explained Lynn Nichols. “It has been a challenging and rewarding experience and one I wouldn’t change for the world. It has given me the opportunity to meet, lead, and grow close to our professional ‘family’ at Yingling and to share the experiences with my personal family, as well. The past two decades have been gratifying and they’ve passed quickly. Its success over 75 years is a tribute to all of the people who have been a part of the Yingling organization.”
“Like my Dad, I grew up in aviation,” added Andrew Nichols, who now leads the company. “To have the privilege to lead a group of outstanding, loyal, and dedicated employees over the past couple of years is a dream come true. I have learned from and grown close to this great group of employees and I’m looking forward to the next chapter in the ongoing Yingling Aviation story.”