Long known as Tri-State Aero, the air travel service facility adjacent to Evansville Regional Airport has more than a new name.
With a glass-lined exterior and spacious inside loaded with amenities, the United Companies Air Center is open for business. Commercial airports of all sizes have fixed-based operators — commercial businesses that provide general, commercial, and private aviation services at an airport — and United Companies Air Center President Doug Petitt says EVV’s now stands up with any in the country.
“There may be bigger ones at the bigger airports, but none of them are better right now,” says Petitt, who is also executive vice president and chief people officer with United Companies. “New is hard to beat … what we have is quite an asset for Evansville and the region.”
Few would deny that EVV’s fixed-based operator service needed a refresh. The original building had been in use since Jan. 1, 1965, when Tri-State Aero moved to Evansville after nearly two years in Mount Vernon, Indiana. Former Tri-State Aero owner John Zeidler sold the property in late 2022 to United Companies, which – along with the Evansville Regional Airport Authority – decided to raze the decades-old terminal onsite and build anew.
Based in Evansville, United Companies also includes United Leasing & Finance, Professional Transportation Inc., and Romain Automotive Group. Company officials jumped at the opportunity to bring what was then called Tri-State Aero under their umbrella.
“It was something we felt we could support, and we wanted to ensure that the facility was constructed,” Petitt says. “The airport board was responsible for managing the construction contract, and we thought it made sense to support this massive improvement for our community. For so many people, this facility is the front door to the community. We needed a better representation, and we think that the new facility does that.”
Designed by Hafer and built by Garmong Construction, the two-story United Companies Air Center is the landlord for nearly 60 privately owned aircraft. Sizes of those planes range from two-seaters to corporate jets, and air center technicians keep them fueled and in proper working condition.
Any private aircraft arriving in Evansville – whether a Beechcraft, King Air, Cirrus, Piper, and more, carrying business travelers, touring entertainers, sports teams, or anyone else – park and gas up at the air center.
Fueling is a big part of the fixed-based operator’s role. In addition to the private air fleet, staff members top off the tanks of all commercial planes flying in and out of Evansville Regional Airport — that includes American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Allegiant Air, and Breeze Airways. In total, Petitt says the air center delivers about three million gallons of fuel per year into airplanes.
Air center staff also can triage and repair smaller-scale maintenance issues on commercial planes, allowing EVV’s carriers to keep flight schedules intact.
The new air center is the home base of those efforts, and it’s also an inviting spot to catch a flight.
Travelers enter through a front set of sliding glass doors and walk out to their ride through a rear set. The staffed lobby has lounge seating, Wi-Fi, drinks, and snacks.
The second-floor pilot’s lounge is equipped for pilots needing a quick refresher as well as those who will spend a longer time in Evansville before returning to the cockpit.
“It gives pilots more amenities – lounge space, a small kitchenette, and sleeping quarters, and the windows were laid out so they can see patrons coming and going, so they can know when to get ready,” says Dempson Haney, project architect for Hafer.
Haney notes the new air center has small and large conference rooms for those needing private conversations while on the ground in Evansville. Such spaces were not available in the old building.
The air center also leases space to a flight training school, X-Cell Aviation.
Features such as those are important for an airport’s fixed-based operator to provide, says Evansville Regional Airport Executive Director Nate Hahn.
“That relationship is integral to our airline partnerships, and our ability to work in tandem with United Companies Air Center to remain price-competitive is essential to our air service expansion efforts,” Hahn says.
One key amenity the air center’s new owners are excited to restore is charter air service, which has been missing in Evansville for the last few years. Petitt says it’s a convenience for businesspeople and vacationers wishing to bypass airlines and schedule their own trips.
He says he’s optimistic the demand for charters will increase as more residents hear that the service is once again available.
“There are times when people want to fly somewhere, and it’s such a time-consuming process to use the commercial airline routes that it doesn’t make sense,” Petitt says. “The prior owner provided charter service but had sold that piece of his business. We felt like that might have been a hole (in services the fixed-based operator should offer).”
Hahn says the return of charter service “brings great value back to our community. Some people might be surprised by the value of charter service for both business travel and personal use.”
The air center is on Flightline Drive, just off U.S. 41 south of EVV, next door to the Dunn Hospitality Group-owned Hampton Inn Evansville Airport. It’s open to the public.
Petitt says he knows it may take a while for the property’s name change to take root, since it had been known as Tri-State Aero for so long, but the rebrand to United Companies Air Center “is about us wanting to align it with our parent company and make it stand for what we stand for in the community.”
He also points out that longtime Tri-State Aero personnel have remained in place and continue to provide ample air service expertise. “We have a wonderful group of long-term employees,” Petitt says.