Special Services Corp

Description

Liberty Life Insurance Company was founded in 1905 and later (through core business diversification including insurance, radio and television) became the Liberty Corporation. Liberty early on recognized the value an airplane would bring to their business. Liberty and Stevens Textiles (the former parent company and origin of Stevens Aviation) shared airplane services. In 1958 Liberty purchased a twin Beech-18. To manage its new airplane, Liberty created a subsidiary company called Special Services Corporation (SSC). SSC was tasked with developing a professional and safe flight department. Mr. Frank Dosser was hired as the first flight department manager and chief pilot. Frank’s insight for safety expanded the flight department to add aircraft maintenance. This gave SSC not only added mission support, but solidified the permeation of operational safety. Special Services, under the leadership of Mr. Dosser, established its aviation operations on the north ramp of the Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU) – the busiest general aviation airport in South Carolina. The exclusive hangar facility and new home of the SSC flight department was purchased from Winn-Dixie Stores. Winn-Dixie Stores originally built the facility to operate their flight department until moving to Jacksonville, Florida (JAX). As Liberty grew, it became more accustomed to the benefits of its new airplane and flight department. Liberty continued to realize the advantaged business tool the airplane had become. To meet demand, additional airplanes were purchased in the mid 1960’s. The added Douglas DC-3 could carry more passengers over a longer distance than the Beech 18. The increased fleet offered the flexibility of long or short distances, simultaneous trips, and added passenger capacity. Aviation technology continued to evolve at a rapid pace in the 70s and 80s. The availability of turbine powered aircraft offered faster, quieter, and smoother travel than predecessor aircraft. To take advantage of these new found capabilities, Special Services Corporation purchased a Lear 25 as its first jet aircraft and a Beech King Air 90 to replace the twin Beech. Mr. Dosser’s retirement promoted Robert Traynham to manage and lead the SSC team through 1985. Since then, Jim Alexander has lead SSC. Eric Groves and Brad Searls joined Jim Alexander to make up the current SSC management team. As the years have progressed, Special Services has operated, managed, purchased, and sold many different aircraft including the Lear 35, Citation II, Citation Ultra, Citation Encore, KA-200, Cheyenne IIXL, and Cheyenne IIIA to name a few. Again through insight, in 1999 Special Services obtained FAR 135 Air Carrier Certification. The charter certificate has been used as a tool to grow the flight department into a revenue producing company through aircraft charter. SSC’s primary, bottom-line objective was to reduce the cost of flight department operations. In addition, SSC expanded its aircraft maintenance services to outside customers. Safety has always been a priority at Special Services.

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