Maryland based management and charter company Trident Aircraft has enjoyed tremendous growth in the post-Covid era. It has grown its managed fleet from nine to 23 aircraft during the course of just 15 months. In the 4th quarter of 2021 it added a HondaJet, Legacy 500, Legacy 450, Gulfstream 200 and Gulfstream 150. All five of these aircraft, as well as a newly acquired Pilatus PC-24, are currently in the Part 135 conformity process.

“We expect the Legacys to be flying charter by May of this year and the remaining aircraft to be operational by the summer of 2022,” says president John Galdieri III. “By the end of summer, Trident's charter fleet will include these five plus two Lear 60XRs, which have been a staple of our charter division over the past two years.”

The nine passenger Legacy 500 is based in Naples, Florida and is being added to the company's charter certificate. It is a 2016 model but has recently received a new paint and interior, as well as a wi-fi upgrade to the L5 Avance system.

To support the growth Trident has signed a 10 year lease with the state of Maryland for an 18,000 sq ft hangar facility at Baltimore's Martin State airport which is currently undergoing renovations. Beyond the 15 crew members recently hired to pilot the new aircraft, the company has also expanded its scheduling and dispatching department with three new personnel, and two new accounting support staff members and a number of multiple line service and turbine technicians have joined to support the new aircraft and their owners.

"The demand for quality charter aircraft has never been higher,” he continues. "The net rate payable to the owners is better than ever and I am confident advising our new owners that they can get a fair return allowing others to charter their aircraft when they don't need it themselves. Our fleet charter flight hours were up over 100 per cent from 2020 to 2021, and we expect with our expanding fleet that we will see another year of growth in excess of 100 per cent by flight hours and in terms of charter revenue".

Trident is taking delivery of two brand new Peterbuit aviation fuel trucks for its Easton, Maryland FBO operations. “I must say a special thank you to The Pete Store for their efforts,” says Galdieri.

Trident Aircraft, has aircraft based and FBOs located in Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Alabama, and Connecticut. It also operates a 38 aircraft flight school that specialises in government contract flight training and military to civilian pilot transitions. In 2021 its combined fleet of over 60 aircraft flew in excess of 14,000 flight hours.