DavisAir, located at Charleston International airport in South Carolina, says that 2021 has panned out much better than it expected. “Probably 70 per cent of our business is now new clients who no longer want to fly on the airlines," reveals founder and president Gary Davis. The operator currently flies a B200 King Air, a Citation 550 and a Citation CJ. Both jets recently came on line, so the King Air is doing most of the flying.

“We have been carrying out a lot of organ procurement work with the Citations, which are based in Lynchburg Regional airport in Virginia," Davis goes on to say. “We added two Citations there recently. Fortunately we have been given some PPP (paycheck protection program) money, and we've had to keep an eye on expenses. After the first wave of coronavirus we were flying every day; I'm not sure yet how the second wave will affect us."

His expectation is that 2021 will feature the most hours flown in a while. “The problem now is getting qualified crews. Airlines are rehiring and paying huge incentives for pilots. The pilot situation goes in cycles. Either there are many looking for work or no one is looking to change. You have to take into account that DavisAir was started in 1989 and we have been a Part 135 carrier since 1993. We’ve seen it all."