Photo above: iStock/dszc
A look at an HAI member up close and personal.
Ever since Aviation Instrument Services (AIS) opened its doors in 1977, the Miami, Florida–based company has aimed to serve the aviation industry with one goal: to build a reputation of excellence in service. With this goal as its guiding light, AIS has developed a multidimensional operation that provides a variety of services to customers in North America and around the world, including instrument sales and exchanges for the general and corporate aviation and helicopter markets.
Parts, Equipment, and Repair
AIS’s inventory includes new parts and equipment acquired directly from leading manufacturers with full documentation, as well as new surplus material from respected operators. All overhauled and repaired equipment in inventory has been certified by a select group of FAA/JAA-certified repair stations.
The company also provides efficient management of component repairs and overhauls through its FAA-approved repair shop network. AIS handles the repair of instruments, avionics, and accessories for all types of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, offering customers a single-source repair shop for an entire mixed fleet, saving time and money. Additionally, AIS offers exchanges for critical parts under warranty repair at no charge if the parts are in inventory, allowing customers to keep flying while repairs are underway. AIS maintains an inventory of more than 85,000 end items and piece parts.
AIS has long-term relationships with a network of more than 30 highly qualified repair facilities, each with its own area of expertise or specialty. Through the company’s large volume of repairs (over 3,600 units in the past 12 months), it receives preferred pricing and delivery from select repair facilities and passes this savings on to customers.
The AIS control team carefully inspects each order prior to shipping to ensure all documentation is included and correct. Each item is boxed to aircraft industry specifications and, when required, crates and boxes are assembled in the company’s wood shop to meet aircraft industry specifications as well.
Consignment Services
As an added service, AIS established a consignment program that allows companies to offload their surplus to AIS’s facility, which the company then manages and sells for its customers. This program, which incorporates computer tracking and reporting of each sale, makes available to customers a large inventory of overhauled, repairable, and new equipment.
Under the consignment program, AIS customers can free up large sections of their warehouses, reducing maturing inventory, and fill the newly available storage space with more inventory by using the cash flow gained from consigning surplus with AIS.
Today, AIS exclusively handles the sale of consignment material from more than 30 companies around the world.
