General Manager and Chief Pilot Ronnie Greathouse stands in front of Coast Air Center’s FBO facility at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego. Building on its foundation as a flight school and Part 145 repair station, Coast Air Center has been open as an FBO for just over a year. It is exhibiting for the first time at the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers conference (SDC2022) being held in the city.
Reception Area
Credit: Bill Carey
The reception area in Coast Air Center’s new two-story, 6,000-sq.-ft. terminal building. The second floor of the facility hosts classroom space for the company’s flight school, Coast Flight Training, which provides cadet training for American Airlines and also serves as a Platinum Cirrus Training Center for Cirrus Aircraft.
Pilots' Respite
Credit: Bill Carey
The crew lounge at Coast Air Center. The FBO also has a shower facility, executive meeting room and WiFi service extended to the apron. It offers a courtesy vehicle, on-site rental cars and negotiated hotel rates. Coast Air Center also has a private aircraft management program.
Hangar Space
Credit: Bill Carey
As part of a $10 million project, Coast Air Center built new hangar space and refurbished existing hangars at KMYF, which is also home to CrownAir Aviation and Corporate Helicopters. Coast Air Center offers hangars ranging from a Premium VIP hangar capable of sheltering a Gulfstream G200, to private hangars for small single-engine aircraft.
A Shining Example
Credit: Bill Carey
Andrew Senk of Triple Mint Mobile Detailing makes a Socata TBM 850 shine in Coast Air Center’s new hangar facility.
Tank Farm
Credit: Bill Carey
The Coast Air Center tank farm holds 20,000 gallons of Jet A and 12,500 gallons of 100LL avgas for piston aircraft. The city-owned airport is working with service providers to consider alternatives to leaded avgas.
Titan Fuel-Branded
Credit: Bill Carey
Jet A and 100LL fuel trucks are parked alongside the FBO. Coast Air Center is a Titan Fuel-branded fuel dealer.
Part 145 Repair Station
Credit: Bill Carey
A&P mechanic Crystal Castaneda, a 2021 graduate of nearby San Diego Miramar College, works on a Cirrus SR20. Castaneda trained at Coast Air Center before graduating from Miramar College, which maintains an FAA Part 147-approved aviation maintenance technician program.
Parachute Equipped
Credit: Bill Carey
Cirrus SR20s are parked on the ramp at Coast Air Center. The SR20 comes with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, which is located aft of the baggage compartment.
Pilot Pipeline
Credit: Bill Carey
American Airlines cadets train on Coast Flight Training’s Piper Archer TX airplanes, which are powered by a 180-hp Lycoming IO-360-B4A engine and fitted with the Garmin G1000 avionics suite.
The NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC) will be held April 5-7 at the San Diego Convention Center. This year is the first time the event is taking place in person since the 2020 conference was curtailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. SDC2022 was postponed to April from January because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
