For more than 75 years, Priester Aviation has created a history of building strong relationships within aviation and delivering customer service. To enhance those strengths, the aircraft management and private travel provider has agreed to acquire Mayo Aviation, a similarly customer-focused, family-led private aviation company.

Priester Aviation, headquartered in Chicago, and Mayo Aviation, based in Colorado, will continue to have separate brands and operations while creating greater enhancements for clients through increased scale and sharing of resources. The partnership brings together two teams of employees who are dedicated to customer service. With greater cooperation over a larger segment of the marketplace, Priester Aviation anticipates greater efficiencies without reducing staff from either company.

“We view success differently than others in this industry,” Priester Aviation Chairman and CEO Andy Priester said. “For other companies, success comes from collecting assets and focusing on the bottom line. For us, success is found in the service we provide and the relationships we build. This is an opportunity to blend two incredible, talented teams who are focused on building and enhancing relationships.

“By coming together, we will be able to do more for all of our clients with the same energy and engagement they have enjoyed for decades. We will do more for our teams by preserving and growing the culture of who we are. We will also be able to offer more opportunities to our teams. Together, we will develop a vision of who we can all become, and from that, success in the marketplace will follow.”

The partnership brings together two of the largest family-owned companies in private aviation. Mayo Aviation was established in 1978 by CEO Bill Mayo’s parents, while Andy Priester is the third generation to helm the company founded by his grandfather, George, in 1945. Mayo Aviation was recently named the Best Private Jet Service in Colorado Biz Magazine.

“This is not like other acquisitions that have become popular in our industry. The focus of our partnership is honouring and building on the incredible relationship Mayo Aviation has with aircraft owners, team members and vendor partners. Relationships are the foundation that Mayo and Priester have been built on, and that foundation will continue to be our focus in the future,” Bill Mayo said.

“In Priester, we see a company that focuses on the same elements we do. Our parents and families understood that this is a customer-based business. The legacy that they built is on display every day, in every interaction. It was important to have a relationship that goes beyond numbers. Heritage matters. We are proud to enter into a partnership that will grow that.”

Both companies have earned their reputations over decades, delivering personalized service 24/7 in aircraft management and charter solutions. The combined fleets offer an impressive management and charter footprint, stretching to each corner of the country with operating centers in Chicagoland and the Rocky Mountains. Each boasts the highest safety ratings in the industry, flying customers domestically and internationally.

Bill Mayo will continue to be an integral part of Mayo Aviation, championing relationships and continuing in a leadership role after the acquisition, which is expected to be completed early fall. Over the next weeks and months, the companies will share best practices, exchange successful ideas, and enact cohesive strategies to better serve their clients.

“We are looking forward to the myriad ways our combined efforts will see to the needs of our customers,” Andy Priester said. “We are eager to further empower our teams by bringing together two companies that are so culturally aligned already.