Taking Flight in Georgetown
Taking Flight in Georgetown
As Georgetown continues to grow at a rapid pace, new businesses are taking advantage of unique opportunities. One Georgetown industry that has noticeably grown in recent years is aviation. Cutter Aviation, based in Arizona, has seen potential in our city and in January 2022 they finalized the acquisition of GTU Jet and AeroJet to become the sole FBO at Georgetown Executive Airport.
Cutter Aviation began in New Mexico in 1928 and is the oldest family owned and operated FBO in the world. An FBO, or fixed-base operator, is essentially a terminal for private aircraft. Cutter prides themselves on providing excellent customer service to everyone who steps in the building. It’s important to the company that all their staff, pilots, and customers feel like a part of the family. They hope to make each facility feel like a home away from home. Additionally, they deal with aircraft sales, services, and charters. With locations in Albuquerque, Phoenix Sky Harbor, Deer Valley AZ, Prescott AZ, Colorado Springs, Addison TX, and San Antonio, they’ve become one of the most well-respected aviation companies in the southwest and beyond.
While Cutter has maintenance operations in San Antonio and Addison, which is just north of Dallas, they saw the need for a Georgetown FBO facility as Austin continues its rapid growth. Will D. Cutter is the Regional Manager of Texas and says that the proximity to Austin is a great benefit, especially for business transportation, tech industries, and events like South by Southwest and Formula 1. They also work with flight schools, military aviation, construction, and partner with local restaurants and hotels to provide accommodations for their travelers.
In the future, Cutter Aviation is focused on growing the brand in Georgetown. They’ll be building bigger hangars to keep up with growth and improving operations with a new sustainability committee. Cutter’s charter department at Georgetown Executive Airport will start operations on August 1st and will be the only charter service in Georgetown. Will Cutter says that they can’t be stagnant in this industry and are always searching for ways to improve.
We were also able to meet with the team at Southwest Aerospace Technologies for a Business Retention & Expansion visit earlier this year and learned about their unique niche in the aviation industry.
S.W.A.T. was founded by Kurt Encinias, who serves as President and CEO. Kurt opened a brick & mortar in Georgetown in 2019 and has grown into an international company with a Service Center in Dorval, Quebec, Canada (CYUL) and a second Service Center through a lease with Cutter Aviation at the Georgetown Municipal Airport (KGTU). They have three locations at 3879 E. University Avenue for Repair Station, Warehouse Facility and Administrative Offices. S.W.A.T. provides comprehensive servicing, repair, and parts warehousing for Bombardier, Northrop Grumman, Textron, Airbus, Boeing, Falcon, Gulfstream, Embraer, Rolls Royce, and ICON. In fact, Kurt and his team are uniquely certified to service the ICON amphibious sport airplane which positions S.W.A.T. as the largest ICON service location in Central Texas.
Most recently, S.W.A.T. has entered the industry of maintenance for BR700 series engines. In addition to recruiting some of the best avionics technicians in the industry, a key part of their growth strategy is contributing to training of this workforce through partnerships with Texas State Technical College and Georgetown ISD aviation curriculum.
Aviation has become increasingly important to the local economy, and we are glad to host such diverse industries here. The City of Georgetown is grateful that Cutter Aviation and Southwest Aerospace Technologies have found a home in Georgetown and are enthusiastic about their continued growth.
