History Of AAR - 60th Anniversary

AAR begins its history with the company named I.A. Allen Industrial Sales, a radio and equipment supplier to commercial aviation industry. I.A. Allen Industrial Sales, incorporated in 1955 and stationed in downtown Chicago, was founded by Ira A. Eichner (pictured here). In 1962 the company was renamed, Allen Aircraft Radio.

In 1965 the company expanded by establishing Allen Airmotive, a supply chain facility in Amsterdam. Allen Airmotive provided spare parts and services to the European aviation market. Two year after this international expansion, the company goes public. 

In 1969, the company has a third and final name change to AAR Corp. It acquired its first aircraft maintenance business at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City and later added four hangars there. In 1973, AAR acquired Airponents and Standair. Merging these two repair companies with Mars Aircraft Radio, it was later renamed Aircraft Component Services–New York.

17 years after its European expansion with Allen Airmotive, in 1982 AAR opened an office in Singapore to serve customers in the Asia-Pacific region. 

AAR established Aircraft Turbine center in 1984 to expand its presence in the aircraft engine business. Later that decade in 1987, AAR acquires a landing gear overhaul and exchange business in Miami. 

In 1996, AAR selects its second CEO in the company’s history—David Storch. In 2005, Storch is named chairman and CEO of AAR Corp. Also in this year, AAR established a landing gear repair facility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

In 2008, AAR acquires Avborne Heavy Maintenance, an MRO facility at Miami International Airport. In 2010, it purchases Aviation Worldwide Services and adds expeditionary airlift services. AAR also acquires Airinmar,  a London-based international component repair management provider, and Telair and Nordisk. The company has made a few changes to its business portfolio since, as described in this exclusive interview with Storch.

This year, AAR ranked 3rd in top airframe MROs by Aviation Week. AAR operates six facilities in the U.S. and performed 4.9 million maintenance man-hours in 2014. The company is also planning to open another facility in Rockford, Illinois, in late 2016 or early 2017.