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After rebuffing a recent takeover bid, Mercury Air Group Inc.’s new president and chief executive is out to grow the company through acquisitions and the expansion of Mercury’s airport way stations.
“I see my mission as personally rededicating my company to core business values, to maintaining a strong and effective aversion to risking capital and a sense of focus on shareholder earnings,” said Joseph Czyzyk, appointed Mercury’s CEO last month.
Mercury was approached with a takeover bid by an undisclosed suitor in December, but Czyzyk says the company is not for sale. In fact, it has been an acquirer of late; early last year it bought RPA Airline Automation, a Florida company that writes copyrighted computer programs that are specialized for the airline industry. And it continues to buy airport-based operations to grow its Mercury Air Centers division, a chain of service stations for corporate and private aircraft.
Mercury has five operating units: Maytag Aircraft Corp., a government contracting company; Mercury Air Group Aviation Fuel Services Division, which sells fuel to commercial and supplemental airlines; Mercury Air Cargo Inc., an air cargo handling, space logistics and sales agency services provider; Mercury Air Centers; and its new software division following the RPA Airline purchase.
Mercury Air Centers present the biggest opportunity for growth. They cater to private and corporate planes, taking care of the crew even to the point of providing showers and lounging rooms for waiting pilots refueling planes, loading and unloading cargo, and providing cleaning and maintenance.
Montreal-born Czyzyk has over 25 years in the airline industry, having spent time with both United and El Al airlines before coming to Mercury in 1985. He founded the cargo division and made it profitable within a year. In 1992 he was named executive vice president of Mercury Air Group Inc. and then went on to become chief operating officer of the company prior to his recent appointment.
Karen Teitelman
