Regis de Ramel

Regis de Ramel began his career in real estate in 1997, but aviation was always his first love and a part of his blood. His great-grandfather was one of America’s first pilots, training with the Wright brothers before going on to fly in World War I and helping to found America’s first fighter squadron, the Lafayette Escadrille.

From a young age, de Ramel knew he wanted to help shape the aviation industry. In 2003, he took a job as a sales and demo pilot for Cirrus Aircraft, a littleknown aircraft manufacturer at the time. In 2010, de Ramel had the opportunity to take his passion for aviation to the next level.

The owner of a small maintenance facility in Lititz, Pennsylvania, where de Ramel kept his own plane, decided to close his business permanently. De Ramel saw its potential and purchased the business and started anew with just a few parts and two mechanics. Twelve years later, flyADVANCED Aviation Group has grown into a full-service aviation management and charter company. The company now manages more than 90 aircraft at five locations and employs nearly 200 people. The original shop in Lititz has grown to 30 employees and is now the largest authorized service center for Cirrus Aircraft in the world.

“Aviation is just a little over 100 years old and still a very young, fragmented business,” de Ramel said. “There is so much more to come in this field. Future leaders in aviation must want to continue to evolve and adapt to new ways and embrace technology. We have learned that to remain relevant and influential in aviation, we have to be growing and constantly searching for a better path forward.”

From maintenance and personnel to accounting and scheduling, flyADVANCED allows owners to reap the benefits of owning an aircraft without having to navigate the complexities, the company said.

The original business de Ramel purchased in 2010, Advanced Lancaster, started with total revenues of $52,000 and three employees in one aircraft hangar. In a little over a decade, de Ramel and his team have grown the business to more than $50 million in total revenue.

De Ramel has worked to remove many of the barriers to entry that new pilots face. Shortly after acquiring Gateway Aviation in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 2018, he converted it to form a nonprofit flight academy and has since launched two additional locations in New Castle, Delaware, and Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Today, flyGATEWAY is the largest Part 141 flight academy in the region and is helping more pilots find their calling in the skies.

“There is a difference between being passionate about your work and being committed,” de Ramel said. “One cannot always be passionate about your work, but you must be committed.”