Pentastar Aviation is an American aviation services company based in Waterford,

Oakland County, Michigan Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

. It provides domestic and international private charter flights, avionics, maintenance services, in-flight catering and FBO services. Originally a subsidiary of the

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

, the company was sold in 2001 to Ford family member Edsel B. Ford II.

History

Pentastar Aviation began in 1964 as Chrysler Air Transportation, Chrysler Corporation's internal flight department based at

Willow Run Airport Willow Run Airport is an airport in Van Buren Charter Township and Ypsilanti Township, near Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States that serves freight, corporate, and general aviation. Due to its very close proximity to Detroit Metropolitan Ai ...

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, and ...

. The company was renamed Pentastar Aviation in 1980. Initially providing internal flight services, over time the division expanded to offer maintenance and avionics services, private aircraft brokerage services, fixed-base operation services and charter services through Pentastar Aviation Charter, Inc.

Fleet

Pentastar Aviation Charter, Inc's fleet includes the following aircraft: * King Air 200 * Citation Jet Series *

Hawker 400XP The Hawker 400 (also known as the Beechjet 400) is a light business jet. Initially designed and built by Mitsubishi, it has been further developed and updated by the Beech Aircraft Company, now part of Textron Aviation. It was produced over 3 ...

Learjet 45 The Learjet 45 (LJ45) aircraft is a mid-size business jet aircraft produced by the Learjet Division of Bombardier Aerospace. The Model 45 was the first all-new design since the original Learjet, and significantly altered the Learjet line. Throug ...

/ 75 * Embraer Phenom 300 * Citation XL/XLS * Hawker 800XP * Hawker 850XP * Hawker 900XP * Learjet 60 / 60XR * Gulfstream 150 * Citation Latitude * Challenger 300/350 * Citation X / Sovereign * Falcon 50EX * Gulfstream 200 / 280 * Legacy 450 / 500 * Challenger 604 / 605 * Falcon 2000 EX / LXS *

Gulfstream IV The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United State ...

/ I VSP / 450 / 400 *

Embraer Legacy 600 The Embraer Legacy 600 is a business jet derivative of the Embraer ERJ 145 family of commercial jet aircraft. Design and development The Legacy 600 (market designation adopted after 2005) is based on the ERJ-135 model. It was launched in 2000 ...

* Dassault Falcon 7X * Gulfstream V /

550 __NOTOC__ Year 550 ( DL) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

/ 650 *

Bombardier Global Express The Bombardier Global Express is a large cabin, 6,000 nmi / 11,100 km range business jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aviation (formerly Bombardier Aerospace). Announced in October 1991, it first flew on 13 October 1996, receiv ...

The company also uses a range of jets through a network of pre-approved operators.

Aircraft maintenance

Pentastar Aviation holds Class 3 and Class 4 airframe ratings and maintains

Gulfstream The Gulf Stream is a warm Atlantic Ocean current. Gulf Stream or Gulfstream may also refer to: Places *Gulf Stream, Florida, a town in the United States Art, entertainment, and media *''Gulf Stream Magazine'', a literary magazine at Florida Intern ...

, Bombardier, Cessna,

Dassault Dassault Group (; also GIM Dassault or Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS) is a French group of companies established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, and led by son Ser ...

and

Hawker Hawker or Hawkers may refer to: Places * Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Hawker, South Australia, a town * Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia * Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...

aircraft. It also carries out avionics installation and repair at its facility at Oakland County International Airport. On March 13, 2012, Key Air, the leading FBO service provider and aircraft management and charter provider at the Waterbury-Oxford Airport in

Oxford, CT Oxford is a residential town located in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,706 at the 2020 Census. Oxford is the 26th-wealthiest town in the state by median household income. Distinct settled areas in the ...

, officially announced that they would be signing a memorandum of understanding with Pentastar Aviation. This agreement allowed Pentastar to operate on the east coast of the United States in addition to their headquarters in

Oakland County International Airport Oakland County International Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located in Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The airport is located approximately one mile from the center of Waterford Township and Oakland ...

. The facilities were officially opened on June 13, 2012.

Scheduled airline service

Twice Pentastar has operated scheduled airline service under a public charter arrangement. The first was in 2013 and 2014 when they operated Saab SF340 aircraft on behalf of "Lakeshore Express" between Pontiac,

Midway International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...

, and

Pellston Regional Airport Pellston Regional Airport , also known as Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County, is a public airport located northwest of the central business district of Pellston, a village in Emmet County, Michigan, United States. It is included in the ...

. The second was for a startup, OneJet, operating Hawker Beechjet 400A aircraft out of an

Indianapolis International Airport Indianapolis International Airport is an international airport located seven miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The ...

base to a number of destinations in the Midwest. This flying will transition to

Corporate Flight Management Contour Aviation (legally Corporate Flight Management, Inc. d.b.a. Contour Aviation) is a multifaceted aviation services company based in Smyrna, Tennessee, USA. It started operations in 1982 as an on-demand charter service for passengers and frei ...

in June 2016.

Notes

{{authority control Aviation organizations based in the United States Airport operators of the United States Charter airlines of the United States Companies based in Michigan Airlines based in Michigan