Flying high

Draken International fulfills a need most people don't even know exists.

And, more significantly, Draken executives, in four years, have built the largest fleet of privately owned tactical training aircraft in the world out of a facility at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. With 50 jets and more on the way, the company provides a safe training alternative for the U.S. military and their allies in several vital areas: airborne adversary support, threat simulation, aerial refueling, research, testing and other suitable missions.

It's important work, and Draken is on a growth track. The company - with $5 million to $10 million in annual revenues — made a commitment two years ago to hire 55 people and spend $6.7 million to expand its headquarters and operations center by 2016. It's on track to do that, with 45 employees and 10 additional pilots coming onboard soon. And, according to executives, there's more expansion to come.

“As a business, we continue to reinvest in our assets to ensure we meet and exceed tomorrow's requirement,” Draken Vice President of Client Relations Sean Gustafson says. “Although there are several companies in the industry, only two competitors have the ability to execute on a large scale.”

Those two companies are Discovery Air in Canada and Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., headquartered in Virginia. 

Draken, to accomplish a goal of saving the U.S. military $1 billion in training over 10 years, recently purchased 14 new aircraft, scheduled to arrive before the end of the year. That's a big purchase — an amount the company won't disclose — made from the Czech Republic government.

With Draken, the U.S. military could save using these jets in several ways. The list includes the purchase of aircraft; flying hours; pilot training plus time and salary; maintenance and maintenance crews; and fuel and other relative costs. Those expenses, say Draken officials, add up quickly for military units.

“Industry can do (training) smarter and not cut any safety corners,” Gustafson says. “And after a year and a half of providing services we are on track with our goal of $1 billion in savings.”

Draken bills clients per flight hour. It's expensive, though significantly less than what a military unit would pay to conduct training on its own.

A big challenge for Gustafson and Draken founder Jared Isaacman is logistics: To get started in 2011, for example, the company needed to purchase former military aircraft. That was an arduous process, chock full of governmental and regulatory procedures.

“It was an extremely high barrier of entry into the market. Jared is truly a visionary realizing the need for more capable aircraft than what currently existed in the industry,” Gustafson says.

Gustafson is pragmatic about that process. “The ability to enter any market and raise the standard to a new level essentially stimulates the customer's thought process to what 'could be' versus 'what was,'” Gustafson says. “It took a great deal of time to find the right assets to open the doors to Draken and change the future of contract air services.”

At least 80% of the employees at Draken are current Reserve status or prior military people. Nearly everyone has a passion for flying. Continuous training is held in to keep the pilots current at locations nationwide.

“I get excited about going to work every day because I know Draken is making a difference in training our combat forces and preparing them for future conflict,” says Gustafson, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserves and F-16 instructor pilot. “The freedom to steer the company to emerging opportunities makes for a very rewarding environment.”