There’s many reasons we consider ourselves Cessna Citation specialists at RAI Jets. Wondering what they are? We tell you all about it in our latest blog.
Since we opened our doors as RAI Jets in 2009, Cessna Citation jets have been part of our fleet. Our abilities to service them with dedication and expertise have led to our current identity as the Cessna Citation specialists in southwest Michigan.
RAI Jets operates both RAI Maintenance and the RAI Service Center, an FAA-approved Part 145 Repair Station (FAA #RJSR819D). The team serving both entities is passionate about providing meticulous and thorough aircraft maintenance. All maintenance and management is headquartered at our newest hangar at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport at 5825 Willoughby Dr. in Portage, Michigan.
RAI Repair Station
Our Repair Station handles 91.311 and 91.413 inspections, which evaluate the transponder and altitude reporting systems, including secondary surveillance radar (SSR) beacon codes. These inspections must be completed every 24 months and are crucial for maintaining safety for operation in IFR (Instrument Flight Rules conditions.)
RAI Maintenance Department
Our maintenance department is comprised of a robust team of professionals, averaging twenty years of experience per technician. They include FAA-approved A&P (airframe and powerplant) mechanics and technicians with specific skills in refurbishment, including high-gloss veneer specialty for aircraft interiors.
The maintenance team performs IA (inspection authority) and A&P-certified service for many makes and models of aircraft:
- Beechjet 400(A)
- Challenger 600 Series
- Citation III, VI, VII, X, and 560/XLS
- Hawker 800 and 900
- Falcon 2000 and 900
- Helicopter maintenance
Over the years we have become known as Cessna Citation specialists and a trusted resource for maintenance of their models.
Cessna Citations Specialists On Board
Our Director of Maintenance is Dave Lillie, who joined us in 2019. Dave has more than 30 years of experience in aviation maintenance. He started his career at Duncan Aviation and worked there for 15 years, gaining all levels of experience as a technician and working his way up from the “clean up crew” to becoming a Duncan lead mechanic. Dave has attended FlightSafety schools for Beechjet 400(A), Falcon 20, Falcon 200, and Falcon 900EX. He also completed the Citation Advanced Troubleshooting school and has extensive experience on King Air, Westwind / Astra, BeechJet, Falcon, Challenger, and is a Cessna Citation specialist for the 500/550, 525, 560XLS, 650, and 750 aircraft.
Dave leads a top team of six technicians, including one of our most recent hires, “Jet Fuel” Joe Phelan. Joe was with us 22 years ago and recently returned to us after more than a decade of serving as the lead mechanic for one of the world’s largest fleets of Citation XLs. He heads up our newly offered maintenance service for Cessna Citation 560XL aircraft with the RAI Jets maintenance team.
As our maintenance crew grows and changes, we will continue to offer the top-quality service we are known for as the Cessna Citation specialists. However, if you need more than just maintenance from us, RAI Jets does provide competitive aircraft management service alongside maintenance.
Aircraft Management with the Cessna Citation Specialists
Outsourcing your aircraft management services to RAI Jets offers freedom from the hassle of monitoring ongoing industry compliance, tracking and inspections, maintenance, insurance, scheduling and dispatch, and so much more. We can provide hangar space for your aircraft, as well as all services needed to remain in compliance with the FAA.
RAI Jets is a Part 135 operator. This means our aircraft management customers may be able to recover some of their operating expenses by adding their jet to our Air Charter Certificate for charter operations when the aircraft is not in use. In some cases, we have helped our aircraft management clients reduce operating expenses by 30 to 50 percent as we charter their idle jets with our customers.
If you need a Cessna Citation specialist for your aircraft maintenance requirements or want to discuss the possibility of aircraft management with us, contact RAI Jets today at 269-651-2821 or visit flyrai.com.
