The World’s Top FBOs

The private aviation industry could not function without the existence of fixed base operators (FBOs). These gateway experiences are a crucial component of the system, providing ground handling, parking, hangar space, towing, and, in most cases, fuel for aircraft.

For passengers, FBOs typically offer amenities including comfortable lobbies and waiting areas, refreshment bars, business centers, conference rooms, and customer-service representatives or concierges to arrange hotels, ground transportation, or even dinner reservations. For pilots and crew, there are lounges, snooze rooms, flight-planning areas, and even courtesy cars.

To determine which FBOs provide the best overall experiences for passenger and crew alike, BJT sister publication Aviation International News has conducted its annual quality survey since 1981. AIN polls a select subset of its industry readership, including pilots, flight schedulers, and dispatchers—those who can evaluate FBOs most knowledgeably. These subscribers have year-round access to a website that allows them to rate FBOs at any time, with their most current rating of a location replacing any previous one.

AIN culled through thousands of responses from the past five years to compile cumulative average scores in its latest annual lists of the best FBOs in the Americas and the rest of the world.

The magazine asked survey respondents to rate facilities they’d used during the past year on a scale of 1 to 5 in the following categories:

Line service—competence and professionalism of the workers who meet the airplane on the ramp and service it.

Passenger amenities—quality of lobbies, lounges, conference rooms, and refreshments, as well as availability of ground transportation.

Pilot amenities—availability and quality of pilot lounges, flight-planning facilities, snooze rooms, crew showers, entertainment and recreation offerings, and complementary crew cars.

Facilities—cleanliness, comfort, upkeep, and convenience of the location.

Customer service—professionalism of customer-service representatives, their familiarity with the local area, and their assistance with reservations and catering.

The survey responses demonstrate that to be a top-scoring FBO, it is not enough to excel in only one area. Facilities must demonstrate excellence across the board. For example, while two locations each earned the highest scores in two of the five categories this year, one ranked among the top 20 percent of FBOs in the Americas, while the other placed below that threshold.

In the 2024 AIN survey, Texas and Florida dominated the top 5% of FBOs, with those states each fielding five locations or one-third of the top tier each. No other state had as many as two, with the remaining five slots filled by facilities in Michigan, Tennessee, Colorado, Alabama, and Idaho. 

For the fourth consecutive year, Pentastar Aviation, a full service-provider at Detroit-area Oakland County International Airport (KPTK), has received the highest score (4.81) in AIN’s annual FBO survey. The company—born from the former Chrysler flight department—has evolved over the past six decades to become an independent, full-service FBO, offering a gamut of maintenance, completions, and refurbishment services. Pentastar also offers a robust aircraft charter and management division in addition to traditional aircraft handling, fueling, and sheltering.

For the second straight year, it is the only facility to be ranked among the top 10 locations in all five categories: line service (4.83), passenger amenities (4.76), pilot amenities (4.77), facilities (4.79), and CSRs (4.89).

The Avfuel-branded complex is home to 30 turbine-powered aircraft ranging from a BBJ-8 to an Eclipse very light jet. It includes 155,000 square feet of hangar space and 10 acres of reinforced ramp space. The main 5,000-square-foot terminal offers passenger lounges, multimedia-equipped conference rooms, company offices, and the Five-Star Café. The latter houses the company’s in-house professional catering department, which has become so popular that in addition to serving customers at neighboring FBOs, it also services operators at other airports in the region.

The complex also includes the Stargate, a separate large-aircraft charter terminal with its own baggage carousel and what is believed to be the only privately operated jetway in the country.

In second place this year, with an aggregate score of 4.78, was American Aero at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (which was recently sold to Modern Aviation) followed by Sheltair at Tampa International which earned a score of 4.76.

AIN’s annual FBO survey divides the world into two groups: the Americas and the Rest of World (RoW). This year, UK facilities dominated the top of the charts in the latter group with designated business aviation gateway Farnborough Airport (EGLF)—with its overall score of 4.67—once again earning the highest accolades in the survey, as it has virtually since the day it opened two decades ago. While the RoW FBO scores tend to lag those of the Americas, London-area Farnborough’s score would have placed it firmly amongst the top 10% of all service providers this year. The complex earned top 10 scores in the passenger (4.76) and pilot amenities (4.73) categories this year, and the second highest score overall for facilities (4.86).

Its three-story 52,000-square-foot terminal features VIP customer lounges that can accommodate up to 60 people for high-capacity flights, conference rooms, crew lounge and snooze rooms, work area, passenger and crew shower facilities, and laundry service. It even has a fully-equipped gym attached to one of its hangars.

Drive-through customs and immigration clearance and rampside vehicle access is available, along with an on-airport hotel. Farnborough is in the second year of a £55 million ($69.5 million) investment program that will increase the airport’s existing 240,000-square-foot hangar space by 70%.

Second place saw a tie between two FBOs at London Stansted Airport (EGSS): Harrods Aviation’s The Brompton (formerly the Fayair complex, which Harrods acquired last year) and Universal Aviation; both received a score of 4.61. Following them, with a tally of 4.54, is Harrods’ original location at EGSS—now known as The Knightbridge to distinguish it from its newer sibling—giving the London airport the unusual honor of having three FBOs in the top tier of the Rest of World segment this year.