A global company with a grassroots presence

No matter where you travel in the world — whether it’s in the United States, Europe, Australia, or other far-flung destinations — you’ll see products from Aviation Supplies and Academics, better known as ASA.

And while the Newcastle, Washington-based company has a global presence, it may surprise you to find out that the company is tiny in comparison to other global enterprises: It has just 20 employees.

“I think a lot of people assume that ASA is this big corporation because we are global — we’re everywhere,” says Greg Robbins, president. “You go into almost any flight school or any FBO, and there’s an ASA product.”

“But we’re a small family-owned, family-run, U.S.-based company,” he continues. “It’s important to understand that we’re not this huge mammoth company. We have some really great employees who do a great job producing wonderful products.”

Now 84 years old, ASA is one of the largest producer of pilot supplies in the United States today.

The company’s inventory includes more than 700 products, ranging from books to flight calculators and more.

A Brief History

ASA was founded in 1940 as Merrell Aviation Ground School by Creighton Merle to train post-war military pilots returning from active duty to work at the airlines. Plotters, regulations, and ground school training materials were the first products. In 1960, the company expanded, adding more pilot supplies and books.

In 1969, the company changed its name to Northwest School of Aviation. The goal was to franchise the popular Merrell Ground School under the name Aviation Seminars of America or ASA.

Then in November 1976, Aviation Supplies and Academics replaced Aviation Seminars of America as the name to go with the ASA acronym, and the company again expanded its product line, adding courses on cassettes, new books, and new training materials.

In 1984, the sale of the ground school — Aviation Training and Research — and a retail store — The Aviator’s Store — allowed all of ASA’s efforts to be directed towards becoming a major supplier of pilot supplies and educational material in the United States. The company moved to its present location near Seattle, Washington, in 1990.

In 2022, Greg and five of his family members purchased the company.

“We’re the current caretakers,” he says. “In my view it’s an iconic brand. It’s been around for 84 years. There’s not that many companies that go back that far, so it is unique.”

As the current caretakers, Greg and his other co-owners are “trying to move it forward and hopefully leave it in a better place when we hand it off to the next caretaker.”

According to Greg, the company’s legacy is all due to its staff, many who have been with the company for more than three decades, such as general manager Jackie Spanitz, who celebrated her 30th anniversary with the company in 2023.

“More than half of our staff has been with the company for more than 10 years, which says a lot,” he points out, noting that as a company based near Seattle, ASA is competing for talent with the “likes of Boeing, Microsoft, T-Mobile, and Amazon — Fortune 50 type companies.”

A positive work environment is critical, he says, but adds that the staff “feels great about the products that we put out.”

“While I am the president and I’m an owner, I started out as an employee and it’s a place that I’ve wanted to stay for close to 16 years now and eventually own. It’s a great place to work.”

A critical part of the staff is the customer service representatives.

“If people call the office or email us, there’s real people who will take their calls and answer their emails,” he says.

Calls range from questions about how to use a new product, to thanks from pilots who used ASA prep ware and aced an exam, to ideas for new products, as well as calls from sharp-eyed readers who catch typos in the company’s publications. They keep a running list of errors and updates so future editions can be updated.

Updates are critical to the No. 1 selling product for ASA: The FAR/AIM.

In publication since 1945, ASA has been producing its version of the FAR/AIM every year since 1960.

“It is, by far, our No. 1 selling product,” Greg reports. “It’s typically a number one selling product in the transportation category in the US, so it has serious reach.”

These days, the company produces the FAR/AIM in a variety of formats: Print, ebook, and an app.

“Most customers are not picking just one,” he says. “They’re picking multiples of that to use because there’s various places that they’ll use it. They’ll use the book because it’s a reference as they prepare for a certificate or rating. Then there’s the advantage of having the app because if they want to reference something quickly, they know they can get to it using search in the app more quickly than trying to find the appropriate place in the book. But then they may use the digital version because it’s a classroom setting, they have more than one student, and they can show it via a monitor in a classroom or they can make the print larger based on whatever device they’re using. It’s great that we offer it in so many ways because the customers are using it in different ways.”

On the pilot supply side of the house, the company’s best-selling product is the CX3, an electronic calculator that is very popular in both North America and internationally, he says.

The company is always looking for ideas for new products and new publications. They collect ideas from authors they are already working with — it’s about 100 now — as well as at trade shows and from its customers. (Have an idea for a new product? Greg encourages you to reach out to ASA).

Greg also makes a point to travel to events, such as those thrown by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association, where he can meet up with young aviators and students.

Part of the reason is to find out what products the next generation is using.

“I listen to what they have to say about our products or our competitors’ products,” he says. “If they are using something that’s not from ASA, I want to know why. Why did you choose that? Is it price? Is it quality? Is it design?”

He also does that when he travels internationally to determine “what the international general aviation community has to say about the needs for either training products or products for the cockpit.”

“We’re always looking for things to bring to the market,” he adds.

He notes that while ASA does well internationally with its pilot supplies — whether it’s bags, plotters, or E6Bs — the books and training resources are less popular overseas as those pilots gravitate to what their local regulatory agency is producing.

Language is another factor: As of yet, ASA only publishes in English.

“That doesn’t mean that we won’t explore that in the future, but to this point, we’ve stuck strictly to English content for our publications,” he reports.

One of the company’s newest publications is by renowned aviator Barry Schiff, who penned “An Illustrated Guide to Flying.”

“It’s a great book by Barry, and I think our staff did an excellent job of taking his manuscript and bringing it to print with all of the illustrations and photographs that are in that book. It has performed extremely well.”

The Future

Looking to the future, ASA — like many in the publishing world — is keeping an eye on what’s happening with AI.

“The value of ASA is its intellectual property, so we need to protect that,” he says.

But there’s another side to the coin: The company is trying to evaluate how it can use AI to make its products better, adding benefits and features for customers.

“Virtual reality is another thing that we’re looking at when we look at our products and how we can bring additional benefits to the consumer,” he says.

Meanwhile, in a world of virtual reality, AI, and digital books, ASA’s print products are still the most popular among ASA customers.

“Paper is king,” he says.

“That being said, there is a place for digital,” he continues. “There is a consumer base that prefers digital over paper.”

While most would think it’s the younger generation who prefer digital, he said that’s not always the case.

“I spent yesterday with a bunch of college students and it is interesting to see the number of them that are using paper books. They still are, but they are without a doubt strong advocates for using digital. It’s a great tool.”

“When I talk to prospective schools that are looking at ASA content for their students, paper has a place and digital has a place — they’re all tools in that educational toolbox that can be used,” he says. “So while we’ve seen paper is king, there is continuous growth in digital content — whether that is an ebook, video, audio, or apps.”

No matter what the future brings, ASA plans to be there helping the aviation continue to thrive.

“We’re a family business that loves airplanes and loves this industry — it’s fun to be part of,” Greg says. “It really is a cool industry. We get to deal with airplanes and do things that a lot of people don’t. I wish more people would take up flying. I think a lot of people think it’s a lot harder than it really is, but it’s a great industry that really opens up a perspective of the world that you can only get when you’re in the air.”

For more information: ASA2Fly.com