Founded

1946

Headquarters

Teterboro, New Jersey

Key People

Kenneth Forester Jr., CEO; Steve Chandoha, president

Phone Number

(201) 288-5040

Website

Meridian

Meridian

Meridian services approximately 30,000 aircraft annually at its FBOs in Teterboro, New Jersey, and Hayward, California. The company also offers aircraft cleaning and detailing services at its Teterboro location.

Former U.S. Army Air Force mechanic and test pilot J. Kenneth Forester established Meridian forerunner Mallard Air Service at Teterboro Airport with his brother-in-law Bob Hewitt in 1946. Providing aircraft maintenance, charter, and sales, Mallard became a distributor for Republic Seabee and North American Navion aircraft. Forester left the company in 1951 but remained at Teterboro part-time, selling and maintaining Navions.

In 1958 Forester started General Aviation Company on the west side of Teterboro Airport to maintain Navions and other piston aircraft. The business also included a flight school, which GAC leased to Teterboro Flight Academy from 1971 to 1974, and tiedown spaces for 50 aircraft. In 1965 the company added a Mooney dealership.

U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and F-102 pilot Ken Forester Jr. took over management of GAC in 1974, although his father stayed on as a mechanic, earning the FAA Charles Taylor Master Mechanic award for 50 years of experience in 2002. 

By 1980 more than 130 aircraft were based at GAC, including 33 at its flight school. In 1983 the company added aircraft charter to its services, initially using piston models; it added jets in 1989. After building a new hangar and terminal at Teterboro, the company joined the Million Air FBO network in 1986. Under the Million Air label, GAC opened its first FAA-approved repair station, added large-cabin jets to its charter fleet, and earned NATA Safety 1^stcertification.

Steve Chandoha, who joined the company in 1988 to manage the flight school and served in various corporate capacities, became president in 2002. Under him, GAC left the Million Air network, rebranded as Meridian, and opened an FBO terminal at Teterboro in 2006; it added a 40,000-square-foot maintenance hangar in 2007. 

From 2012 to 2015, the company opened California offices in Santa Rosa, San Jose, and Van Nuys; and in 2016, it built a full-service FBO at Hayward Executive Airport near San Francisco that received NATA Safety 1^st certification two years later. Meridian also added two hangars to its Teterboro FBO for a total of 102,000 square feet of hangar space.  

In 2020 the company sold its aircraft charter and management business and closed its repair station to focus on its FBOs. Meridian Teterboro was one of the first FBOs in the U.S. to receive Global Biorisk Advisory Council STAR facility accreditation to prepare for and respond to infectious disease and biohazard situations.