Todd Duncan, chairman of Duncan Aviation. The first Duncan to lead the family business in the 21st century, Todd aims to take the business to new heights.
AIRCRAFT FAMILY DUNCAN AVIATION
‘We’re the underdog in this battle’
Few companies can use the word ‘legacy’ when discussing their business, but Duncan Aviation can. We tell their story from Piper Cub to private jets. Words: Conor Feasey
NOW IN ITS 66th year, with more than 2,000 employees in three main US locations, founder Donald Duncan would marvel at how his great-grandsons, after working their way up through the ranks, are developing the business.
The Nebraska-based MRO specialist also provides aircraft sales, avionics installations, interior and paint completions as well as parts support for aircraft manufactured by Bombardier, Dassault, Textron, Gulfstream and Embraer.
Today, the company is headed by Donald’s grandson, Todd Duncan, who has been chairman of the business since 2007. But he is not alone in representing the Duncan clan in the family business. “There are three of us involved on a regular basis. My dad Robert technically retired about 15 years ago, but still sits on our board of advisers,” Todd tells Corporate Jet Investor (CJI). PK, Todd’s son and the fourth generation of Duncan in the business, is currently a project manager at the firm. PK’s twin, Harrison is currently completing his MBA at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“Family businesses rarely thrive past the third generation,” says PK. “Yet Duncan Aviation has had family involvement from four generations so far and, since my wife and I recently welcomed our first son, Kanan, this July, we plan to involve the fifth generation at some point.”
In its 66 years of operations, Duncan Aviation has grown from 12 to 2,000 people; about 500 of which have more than 25 years of experience with the company. “These 500 people aren’t just your work colleagues. After that amount of time, they’re your friends,” says Todd.
“I'm honoured to be a part of this family business, to be the third generation and to have my sons be involved in the way they are and the way they will be,” he says. “What really excites me is continuing on this brand, building strong relationships with our customers and OEM partners and keeping this legacy going on another 66 years.”
The story of Duncan Aviation doesn’t begin in 1956 when the company was founded. It begins on a farm outside Clarinda, southern Iowa. “My grandfather had a Piper Cub that he would fly over the farm and that is how his love of aviation started,” says Todd. “He began as a car dealer in his small town and then migrated to selling aircraft.”
Donald began purchasing surplus government aircraft after World War II. He would fly them for a few months, and then sell them for a profit. As his interests in aviation grew, he became a partner in a Beechcraft distributorship in Omaha, Nebraska and sold hundreds of Beechcraft Bonanzas, Travel Airs, Twin Bonanzas, Barons and Twin Beeches. “It was the love of flying that first got him interested,” says Todd. “But then it became a business, and that business became a passion.”
The dealership grew from success to success before gradually moving towards MRO in the 1960s. Duncan Aviation was named the first Learjet authorised service centre in the world in 1967, with the company moving its headquarters to Lincoln, Nebraska the same year.
Three and a half men, pictured in 1966. The four generations of the Duncan family are: (L to R) Charles, Robert, Donald and youngster Todd.
Robert Duncan: From 1968 to 1996, Robert led the family business to become a major player in the private jet aftermarket.
“Most of the business from 1956 to the early ‘80s, revolved around aircraft sales,” Todd says. “My dad was the one who really shifted the business to focus on maintenance, repair and overhaul.”
In 1968, Robert Duncan became president of Duncan Aviation after only three years with the company. Both he and his father made the decision to make the company a major player in the private jet aftermarket. At its high point in the 1970s, Duncan Aviation accumulated more than $40m in leased and inventoried aircraft. Today, that number is close to a couple of hundred million dollars.
Robert eventually passed the torch on to Aaron Hilkemann in 1996. Hilkemann headed the acquisition of Kal-Aero, a service competitor located in Battle Creek, Michigan. This gave Duncan Aviation two full-service MRO locations. Also under his presidency, a young Todd Duncan was working, learning and growing as a professional.
“I started in the family business as soon as I graduated college. I enjoyed flying, so I began working in aircraft sales,” Todd recalls. “But as the business evolved, I took on different roles as well. I worked for our presidents for a good 25 years. That really allowed me to grow with a team of people.
“As a young man in my 20s, it was a great opportunity. I also ran our components division, which is a team of about 350 people.”
After being promoted to chairman following his father’s retirement in 2007, Todd and Aaron lead the company’s senior management team. “I never ran the business back then and I certainly don't run it today. I run it with the team.”
There are of course some challenges that come with running a family business in aviation. “One of those is the fact that we don’t always have the capital or backing to make a large acquisition. 90% of what we make goes back into the business because that is what it needs,” Todd explains.
Significant investments have been made in recent years, however. In 2020, a new $70m expansion was completed in Provo, Utah, to create Duncan Aviation’s third full-service facility. It includes 275,000sqft of buildings and over 250 team members providing various aspects of aircraft service and support.
Building on the success of your forebearers can have its stresses too. “I feel a huge responsibility to do great work and to continue the legacy that my grandfather and my dad began. I do think that our brand means more to me because my name is on it.
“Even with my family members, like my sons, you want them to do good work here. You want them to represent that brand, that legacy as well.”
To navigate the complexities that come with managing the family business, he has regular monthly meetings with each of his sons. “We talk about their personal topics as well as business topics so that we keep that line of communication open and so that I hold them accountable to their work and to their goals.
“ We don’t always have the capital or backing to make a large acquisition. 90% of what we make goes back into the business because that is what it needs ”
1965-2022: Duncan Archives
1965 Donald Duncan: From flying Piper Cubs over a small town in Nebraska to founding an aviation business with 2,000 employees, Donald’s legacy lives on.
1987 Robert Duncan: Took the reins of the company and expanded its operations into the world of maintenance, repair and overhaul.
1960s style: Donald and Robert Duncan, father and son, worked together to develop the Duncan Aviation business.
“This does bring a different level of stress, but those are just good business practices. And they are good family communication practices too.”
But with most things in business aviation, the positives outweigh the negatives. “As aviation people, we're passionate about this industry and specifically business aviation. Some of the real positives of being a family business are that we control as a company, not just individuals, our own destiny, our own path for our future. It's not dictated by shareholders.” The company is owned predominantly by Todd, Robert, PK and Harrison Duncan, with other family members holding smaller stakes in the company.
“To be a part of the future development of what your company might look like is something special in any business. Oftentimes businesses are making short-term decisions for shareholders or for the media or for other reasons. And we can simply do what's right. We try to do what's right for our team members, for our customers and ultimately for us.”
Today’s shiny business jets could one day be sharing their hangars with the latest eVTOL designs, which promise to revolutionise travel.
The Utah sun smiles on Duncan Aviation’s hangar in Provo. The company operates three main facilities throughout the US and employs over 2,000 staff.
The Utah sun smiles on Duncan Aviation’s hangar in Provo. The company operates three main facilities throughout the US and employs over 2,000 staff.
Planning the next 66 years
Todd and the Duncan Aviation family are indeed making developments for the future of the company in the changing landscape of business aviation. “We work in a volatile industry, don’t we? We have grown and evolved in business aviation. I’ve always said we’re the underdogs in this battle. We don’t make the aircraft. We’re there to serve the customers afterwards. And so, we have to be really flexible and adapt to change.
“And we will continue growing with the new emerging technology. I think electric vertical take-off aircraft [eVTOL], different modes of transportation and how future aircraft will be operated over the next 10 and 20 years is really exciting.”
Todd tells CJI that they have invested in several eVTOL start-ups, as well as working with vendors and new technology and on occasion certifying that technology in aircraft. “All this won’t happen in two years, or maybe not even in five years. But it’s going to happen, and it will happen in a big way. Duncan Aviation must, and will, be a part of that.”
PK agrees. “Duncan Aviation has always been both dynamic and consistent. We evolve and adapt as needed to changing market and world conditions,” he says. “While we will always change to improve our services and offerings, we plan to continue the consistent tradition of family culture that customers and team members enjoy.”
Investment isn’t confined to eVTOLs. Given the current labour shortage, Duncan Aviation has undertaken initiatives to invest in what Todd says is the company’s most valuable asset – its people.
“It is critical for us, and any company for that matter, to be involved in the planning for the future of the industry’s leaders. We’re in little Lincoln, Nebraska, small Battle Creek, Michigan, and Provo, Utah, where we're really growing our own team members and technicians for the future. We have invested in a local high school here in Nebraska to start up an aviation programme for technicians.”
Naturally, in a family business with an aviation lineage as strong as the Duncan’s, there is an inevitability of the next generation picking up the torch and leading the company forward into the next era of business aviation.
“PK has been with us for some time and has been doing great,” says Todd. “Harrison is going to do some work outside of aviation. He's been offered a job outside of school. So, I expect he'll do that for some time, which will gain him some tremendous outside experiences. But of course, I fully expect the kid to get back to Duncan Aviation.”
As now a veteran business operator with more than 40 years of experience, the next generation of the Duncan Aviation team has a lot they can learn from their current chairman. “You can't succeed in this business by yourself. It's always the groups and teams of people that push you forward,” says Todd.
“The relationships and trust that Duncan Aviation has built, that I've built over my career, make all the difference in the world. We have customers that have been with us for multiple decades. And so, they count on that brand. They count on the legacy.”
Duncan Aviation’s story is one that is synonymous with business aviation in North America. Growing from humble beginnings with a Piper Cub flying above a small town in Nebraska to a national, multi-million-dollar business investing in eVTOL technologies, it’s no wonder that it is already preparing for the fifth generation of Duncan to join its ranks.
“That’s the legacy of Duncan Aviation,” says Todd. “It’s not just our family name, it's everything we’ve built over the past 66 years.”
DUNCAN AVIATION: 66 YEARS
Duncan Aviation never sleeps: Even after the sun sets on its hangar in Provo.
Todd Duncan: “You can’t succeed in business by yourself. It’s always the groups and teams of people who push you forward.”
Ready for take-off: After 66 years, Duncan Aviation is making plans for the next half century and beyond.
Two generations together, pictured in front of a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver: (L to R) Harrison Duncan, Todd Duncan and PK Duncan.
Fuelling up: The original Duncan Aviation service facility, located in Lincoln, Nebraska.
At the controls: Robert (L) and Todd Duncan pictured at the controls of a Duncan Aviation jet.
Selling in the Sixties: A dapper Donald Duncan sports striking white loafers while sealing a telephone deal.
Donald Duncan in 1965: Founder of the Duncan Aviation dynasty. From Piper Cubs to private jets, Donald built a business that has grown to employ more than 2,000 staff at three main locations plus 32 satellite bases throughout the US.
KEY POINTS
Full-service locations across the US: Battle Creek, Michigan; Lincoln, Nebraska & Provo, Utah
Satellite locations: From Atlanta, Georgia and Aurora, Oregon to Van Nuys, California and White Plains, New York
Employees are US military veterans
Years in operation
