Founded in 1989 by NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr., Champion Air LLC is an FAA Part-125 contract air services operator in Statesville, North Carolina. The company owns and operates three Embraer ERJ 145s and a Bombardier Learjet 31, formerly Mr. Earnhardt’s personal aircraft. The 50-seat 145s are configured for executive shuttle missions.
Given its unique pedigree in the NASCAR community, Champion Air has long served NASCAR teams who travel extensively around the country. More recently, Champion Air has also developed an expertise with teams in other sports.
There is no doubt that using Traxxall would benefit any aircraft owner or operator. In our case, we’re flying a small number of large business aircraft. 99% of our missions are within the continental US. And, our clients generally have very demanding schedules! We need to be professional, competitive and committed to excellence. Traxxall contributes directly to our overall efficiency, which helps us maintain the high standards that Dale Earnhardt, Inc. demands of us.
The Challenge
Scott Peterson, Champion Air’s Director of Maintenance (DOM), has 37 years of industry experience and has been in his current role for the last two years. As DOM, Scott is responsible for the maintenance and airworthiness of the aircraft in his fleet.
Before implementing Traxxall, we were using a mix of a competing system and spreadsheets developed in-house. One of my first objectives when I came on board,” explains Scott, “was to improve and refine our systems. I wanted to accurately calculate the cost of maintaining our aircraft – per year, per month or per hour. After a transition period, Traxxall has enabled us to understand what we spend, where and how. For example, we carry more than $200,000 in spare parts inventory. We are now able to fully appreciate the value of our inventory and instantly see when more parts may or may not be required. Keeping our inventory optimally stocked is essential to avoiding unscheduled and costly delays. Previously, that type of clarity was simply not possible.
The Implementation
Champion Air implemented Traxxall in August 2017.
I started researching and planning improvements to our maintenance tracking as soon as possible. I knew Traxxall’s Marcus Finley when I was at ConocoPhillips and that’s how I first learned about the product. So, when I arrived at Champion Air, I figured that it was the perfect opportunity to do maintenance tracking right. My colleagues in finance and accounting were among the first to appreciate the value of improved maintenance tracking and inventory management.
The Benefits of Traxxall
The number one benefit of Traxxall is that it centralizes all my major responsibilities within a single system – inventory management, purchase orders, flight logs and work orders. It all works together to generate standardized reporting that directly contributes to Champion Air’s efficiency, professionalism, and bottom line.
