Prominent Sarasota aviation facility flying under new ownership

A new owner is piloting Sarasota-based Dolphin Aviation Inc. now.

It was announced March 7 that the longtime aviation services company’s fixed base operator lease and several businesses from its portfolio was acquired by Hawthorne Global. The company did not disclose financial the terms of the transaction.

Hawthorne Global, based in New York, is an aviation services company that provides general aviation services and airport management. It's become an FBO acquisition and operating company.

Ron Ciaravella, who died in 2021, started at Dolphin Aviation in 1969 as a flight instructor, the same year the company began conducting business at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. He eventually went on to purchase the company in 1979.

According to the press release, Ciaravella nearly tripled Dolphin Aviation’s size from 9 to 25 acres, expanded the hangar space and quadrupled the number of employees during his time as owner.

The company’s 24-hour facility provides a range of services to private aircraft owners and operators, their passengers and crew members. There were 75 aircraft permanently based at the facility at the time of the acquisition.

“I am grateful to have a company with Hawthorne Global’s reputation take over the business Ron spent so much of his life building,” Ron's widow, Shannon Ciaravella, the owner, says in a statement. “They have the resources and expertise to continue to advance Sarasota as the most private aviation-friendly destination in our region.”