Howard Goody

Long Island Jet Center—From Goody to Plenty

By W. Stephen Dennis

Long Island Jet Center, previously known as Metro Air, was once a modest mom and pop aviation shop at MacArthur Airport (ISP) in Islip, Long Island. Howard Goody, owner of Sam Goody Music prior to his aviation ventures, started the business in 1978, shortly after learning how to fly over Farmingdale skies at mid-island Republic Airport.

"Howard had a passion for flying," explained Bill McShane, current CEO of Long Island Jet Center. "He was a pilot at heart and went on to own a Duke and a Baron, which he flew with passion. He truly loved the art, sport and business of aviation." In 1978, Goody purchased the Macintyre Aviation facility at Long Island's MacArthur Airport. With close to 30,000 square feet of hangar and T-hangar space and 40 tie-downs, Goody was the first to bring FBO competition to the airport with his innovative Metro Air operation. He then built two additional hangars, purchased another facility, and in 1985, sold the company to a group of investors of which McShane was a part. The investors' attempt to run the FBO didn't work well, and in 1988, Goody and McShane joined forces and took the FBO back.

The men made for great partners in running the operation due to their shared vision for the potential of aviation business growth on strategic Long Island. "We were working the vision together," explained McShane. "We both knew we had the potential to corner Long Island's business aviation market. New York was obviously the financial capital of the world, with, at that time, perhaps the lowest service levels and lowest capabilities of anywhere I had visited in the U.S." The company's goal: to bring a network of quality fixed base operations to Long Island. "Our joint mission was to bring the service level—-the look and excellence of premier FBOs that existed in places like Florida and California—into New York, in order to correctly represent the region we live in," said McShane.

Up until Long Island Jet Center, there hadn't really existed a true modern full service FBO in the then-industry's sense of the word. "Back then, when people came to New York they expected two things: high prices and bad attitudes," explained McShane. "The first part of our mission was to lease sufficient land in order to place FBOs at various airports in Long Island." A long-term lease was secured, then another, and another.

In 1994, Goody and McShane, determined to change the face of Long Island's aviation business, purchased Hudson General Aviation at MacArthur Airport in Islip, Suffolk County, Long Island, and rebuilt the facility. At that time, Metro Air was renamed Long Island Jet Center. Customers flying into LIJ's centrally-located MacArthur Airport facility will find 180,000 square feet of hangar and office space, five acres of transient ramp, and 30 acres of airport property. Southwest Airlines currently runs MacArthur Airport, which serves small commercial carriers, such as Carnival Air and Spirit.

The following year, in 1995, the company purchased the West Hampton Beach location at Francis S. Gabreski Airport, in West Hampton Beach, in eastern Long Island. Customers flying in or out of this location will visit what was once an active Air Force base, which has since been renovated to host corporate and famed clientele frequenting eastern Long Island. Westhampton Beach, located in the prestigious summer vacation spot of The Hamptons, is the most seasonal of LIJ's airport locations, and truly comes to life with the warmer weather.

Already a leader in FBO services for over 15 years, and a perfect link in connecting Goody to his aviation beginnings, Long Island Jet Center opened its latest operation at Republic Airport on Jan. 7, 2000. Republic Airport is the busiest GA airport in the state of New York, with a total of over 200,000 itinerant flights each year. As a GA/reliever facility, Republic Airport generates $139 million of economic impact to Nassau and Suffolk counties each year. This last link in the triad of Long Island Jet Center proved, once again, yet another vital component to Goody and McShane's vision of aviation on Long Island.

Howard Goody passed away nearly three years ago, but his love for aviation and the passion and initiative he dedicated toward that love is translated into Long Island Jet Center's vision for tomorrow. "This company began as a family business," explained McShane, "Since Howard's death we've been in the process of a rebuilding and rebirth. Thanks to his vision and the daily practice of doing successful business, we're now truly poised to take true advantage of our positioning."

-- Airport Journals, February 2005

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