Road to KT Aero’s Future Paved with Old-School Values

GALLUP, New Mexico – Here along historic Route 66, a fabled highway that author John Steinbeck called “the mother road, the road of flight,” Kent Milley and Travis Lodge are revitalizing the future for a general aviation facility by embracing old-school business values.

This place has always exuded a certain magic – one immortalized in movies, songs, novels and the fond memories of countless motorists exploring picturesque highways and western-themed motels.

It’s fitting then, that a highway exuding nostalgia leads to KT Aero, the fixed-base operator (FBO) run by Milley and Lodge that serves Gallup Municipal Airport (KGUP) in New Mexico’s high Colorado Plateau. Milley, an experienced international airport manager, and Lodge, a licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, are leaning into a simpler, more straightforward way of doing business, led by strong relationships, honest service and fair pricing.

“It’s the small things that really persuade you where to land,” explains Lodge, a director for KT Aero, a Phillips 66^® branded FBO. “The personality and personal relationships that we try to cultivate are what we value.”

Lodge and Milley pair faced an extraordinary deadline in 2022 after winning a City of Gallup RFP to manage the airport’s FBO. The city required bidders to support not only general aviation, but also what would be the first regularly scheduled passenger flights to serve Gallup in 12 years.

Awarded the bid, KT Aero was given just 30 days to get a TSA-trained staff in place and its FBO facilities primed for a regional airline and its passengers. They met that deadline, helping Advanced Air launch regular flights between Phoenix and Gallup – restoring what many locals consider a lifeline for medical, business and travel needs.

Honoring history, while looking ahead

A year after opening in Gallup, KT Aero delivered a sequel, taking over FBO operations at Nevada’s historic Tonopah Airport (KTPH), the former home during World War II for a massive B-24 Liberator bomber training facility served by 6,500 military personnel and innumerable civilians. A shop on base sold 400 dozen donuts daily.

Tonopah, nicknamed Queen of the Silver Camps, offers a mother-load of both mining history and aviation mystic, a place where U.S. Air Force pilots practiced dogfighting against Soviet MIG fighter jets – obtained through defection or other means – and where the military tested Lockheed’s stealth F-117A Nighthawks.

KT Aero acquired the FBO, then known as Desert Flying Services, from Mark Peterson, a local aviation legend, Vietnam veteran, flight instructor, aircraft mechanic and former airfield manager for the nearby Tonopah Test Range, a highly classified military installation. Peterson’s roots run deep at Tonopah Airport, where he and his wife lived for decades, raising a family and watching the shimmering beacon from the secret test range tower sweep above the desert.

“Mark is such a cool guy, really personable, there was just a good feeling around the whole place,” Lodge says. “We told Mark, ‘We’re interested in working with you and we don’t want to change or alter your legacy. We’re going to buy the facility, we’re going to operate it, but please still consider it your home.’”

Peterson did that and more, supervising an apprentice Airframe & Power mechanic hired by KT Aero and mentoring others, while still maintaining local aircraft.

“We wanted to keep the feeling of Desert Flying Services alive, yet shift it and keep it all moving forward,” Lodge explains. “It’s been a really fun and fulfilling experience being able to transition with Mark and also the City of Tonopah itself.”

And Tonopah is growing. Lithium and gold mining have taken silver’s place, bringing in transient corporate aircraft. Tourists are discovering the city’s distinctive attractions: unobstructed stargazing, the Tonopah Historic Mining Park, the allegedly haunted 1927 Mizpah Hotel, and the Clown Motel, called America’s scariest motel, where 4,000 pieces of clown memorabilia reside.

Fueling up with flavor and service

When it comes to building relationships, Lodge likes to see it through others’ perspectives, whether that involves local entities, avgas pilots fueling up 58-gallon Cessnas, or military crews flying thirsty helicopters like Bell Boeing Ospreys or Sikorsky Black Hawks. Lodge believes the years he spent performing contract maintenance work for Canada’s military aircraft – working in places like Kuwait, sharing cramped helicopters with crews – instilled an empathy for pilots and their passengers, while informing KT Aero’s management style. 

“From my experience with the military and flying with private pilots, you know they want reasonably priced fuel with good service, and that’s something I accommodate,” says Lodge. “With the military (stopovers) I can call ahead and ask, ‘Do you guys want lunch? I’m not going to order a bunch of crummy pizzas. Come in, I’ll get you a nice barbecue food truck, whatever you guys want.’ We just try to foster the best relationship that we can with the military and support them any way we can.”

Navajo, Zuni and Hopi cultures have infused the Gallup region for centuries. But, explains Lodge, with the tribes and many in the region lacking medical support, medivac flights keep the airport busy. KT Aero’s crew helps support those critical operations.

Perhaps it’s KT Aero’s work with Advanced Air that truly showcases their capabilities. The terminal is divided, one-part private aviation – featuring a conference room, lounge, beverages, free confectionaries and a weather planning kiosk – the other half a full-blown passenger terminal. Working directly with Advanced Air, KT Aero staff handles check-ins, baggage, long-term parking and refueling. Flight times can fluctuate, meaning KT Aero must adapt quickly, opening terminal facilities two hours before takeoff.

“Advanced Air has been a great partner for us,” says Lodge. “They provide TSA cross-training, a drug program and all the things needed to meet FAA and TSA standards.”

Lodge credits Phillips 66^® Aviation for helping KT Aero meet the city’s quick-turn deadline to support Advanced Air’s first flight from Gallup.

“Honestly, they’ve made it easy for us to be successful,” Lodge explains. “We were in a real crunch to start the FBO. They got us a fuel load, a fuel truck and training. They had one of their mechanics come down to conduct Phillips 66^® FBO support training with us as soon as we opened.”

Uplifting underserved families

In November, dozens of recreational pilots who volunteer their time, fuel and aircraft fly into Gallup’s airport with their planes packed with donated gifts, food, clothing and household essentials for the annual Navajo Nation Christmas Airlift, run by Greg McColley. KT Aero donates its hangar (storing some 12,000 pounds of items) and staff time to support the Saturday fly-in.

Last year, more than 100 planes delivered donated wares, arriving from two dozen airports across Arizona, California, Colorado, and New Mexico, says Lodge.

“It’s a wonderful program, a really great event that supports the Navajo Nation,” says Lodge, “and it’s all on a 100 percent donation and volunteer basis. For us, it kind of gets everybody set and revved for the holiday season.”

Finding new uses for gently used items makes perfect sense for KT Aero, whose directors look to tradition as a route to the future.

For more about KT Aero Gallup, NM, visit bit.ly/KT_Aero_Gallup. For more about KT Aero Tonopah, NV, visit, bit.ly/KT_Aero_Tonopah.