Straube's Aircraft Services

What Straube's Aircraft Services does

Straube's Aircraft Services is a family-owned, US-based aerospace services company specializing in aircraft painting, refinishing, and detailing. Founded in 1985 by Jim Straube on the island of Maui, the firm has grown to four operating locations: a corporate headquarters hangar in Kingman, Arizona (established 1994, 10,000 sq. ft.), a reestablished Hawaiian operation in Kapolei on Oahu at Kalaeloa/JRF (1999, 10,000 sq. ft.), an embedded in-house paint shop at Leonardo Helicopters' Philadelphia, PA facility (since 2007), and a federal mobile crew (since 2004) that travels globally under a GSA Schedule contract. Service capability spans environmentally safe peroxide-based chemical paint stripping, metal and composite preparation, body work and corrosion repair, custom graphics and layouts, VIP clear-coat finishes, metal bright work, and full interior and exterior detailing; the Philadelphia shop holds PART 145 repair station and AS9100D certifications.

The business operates as a professional services B2B/B2C contractor on a project-by-project basis, with a $150/hour shop rate, a $5,000 slot deposit applied toward a 50% arrival deposit, and 5-week typical turnaround for general aviation/helicopters and 6 weeks for corporate jets. Customers are a mix of individual aircraft owners (general aviation, helicopters, corporate jets), commercial operators (Red Bull, Air Methods, Grand Canyon Airlines, Papillion, Temsco, Federal Express, Hawaiian Airlines, Cessna), major aerospace and defense firms (Leonardo Helicopters, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, The Spaceship Company/Virgin Galactic, Skyryse, Scaled Composites), and US federal/military buyers (US Forest Service, Cal Fire, US Air Force, US Navy, US Army, NASA on the Saturn V static display). The Leonardo in-house paint contract and federal mobile crew work function as long-duration anchor revenue streams alongside a higher-velocity book of one-off aircraft refinishing projects sold through a sales-led model with website quote capture.

Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, supported by direct outreach from named family principals and managers (Jim, Jeremiah, and Jacob Straube; Brent Schell in Philadelphia), a website quote request form, a video/photo gallery of completed work, and earned media coverage in Vertical Magazine and Hawaii News Now. Pricing is fixed by project (with unit-style billing per aircraft) rather than subscription or usage-based, and capacity is gated by hangar slots and 4–12-month forward scheduling. The firm has remained privately held with no institutional funding disclosed and no M&A activity reported; ownership and operations remain concentrated within the Straube family across all four locations.

Name

Straube's Aircraft Services

Legal name

Straube's Aircraft Services

Website

https://airstraube.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Family-owned US aerospace services firm providing aircraft painting, refinishing, and detailing across four US facilities and a global mobile crew, serving general aviation owners, helicopter and corporate jet operators, OEMs, and US federal/military customers under PART 145, AS9100D, and GSA Schedule credentials.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aircraft Painting and Refinishing Services

SIC

Aircraft Parts & Auxiliary Equipment, Nec (3728)

akta.pro primary industry

Aircraft Painting & Surface Treatment (IMABALAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Aircraft Painting, Stripping & Exterior Finishing (TLAKAJAH)

Keywords

• Aircraft painting services
• Aircraft refinishing
• Aircraft detailing
• Helicopter painting
• Aircraft surface preparation

Headquarters

HQ city

Kingman

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Aircraft Painting Services: Core revenue stream from aircraft paint and refinishing services. Pricing based on hourly shop rate of $150/hour with project deposits. Turnaround times of 5 weeks for general aviation/helicopters, 6 weeks for corporate jets. Requires slot deposit of $5,000 plus 50% deposit on arrival.
2. Aircraft Detailing Services: Interior and exterior aircraft detailing services available at Hawaii location. Includes dry wash wax, wet wash, bright work, carpet extraction, and COVID treatment.
3. Additional Services and Extras: Upsell opportunities including interior paint, additional body work, corrosion repair, door jambs, manufacturer placard kits, gear well painting, VIP clear coat finish, Soot Guard Easy Clean coating, and stainless steel screw kits.
4. Custom Graphics and Rendering: Custom paint scheme application and layout services. Design rendering services included for projects over $50,000. Company works with third-party design companies for scheme rendering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Straube's Aircraft Services is a family-owned aircraft painting and refinishing company that delivers full-service aircraft strip-and-paint, surface preparation, custom graphics, VIP clear coat finishes, and interior/exterior detailing. The company also operates a global mobile crew for on-location aircraft painting and refurbishment under a GSA Schedule contract for the federal government. Services span general aviation aircraft, helicopters, corporate jets, military aircraft, and static display restorations.

Product overview

Straube's Aircraft Services is a family-owned aircraft painting and refinishing company offering three integrated service lines: Aircraft Painting (the primary service including stripping, prep, priming, base color application, layouts, and clear coats), Aircraft Detailing (exterior and interior cleaning and conditioning services), and Mobile Crew Services (traveling crew for on-site aircraft painting and refurbishment, particularly for government and static displays). Additional add-on services such as VIP clear coat, custom paint schemes, and corrosion control are available to complement the core painting service. The company operates across 4 locations: Arizona (corporate headquarters, 10,000 sq ft hangar), Hawaii (10,000 sq ft hangar), Philadelphia (Leonardo Helicopters facility), and a Mobile Crew serving federal government contracts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aircraft Painting and Refinishing Full-service aircraft strip-and-paint including environmentally safe chemical paint stripping, metal and composite surface preparation, priming, base color application, custom graphics and layouts, VIP clear coat finishes, body work, and corrosion repair. Typical turnaround is 5 weeks for general aviation aircraft and helicopters, 6 weeks for corporate jets. Serves aircraft owners, operators, and OEMs across four US locations.
• Aircraft Detailing Complete interior and exterior aircraft detailing including dry wash wax, quick detail, departure clean, wet wash, bright work, interior detail, carpet extraction, spot removal, and COVID treatment fogging. Available at the Hawaii (Kapolei) location.
• Mobile Crew Services Traveling mobile painting and refurbishment crew that deploys globally to on-location aircraft and aircraft-related equipment for the federal government. Has restored damaged aircraft and static displays including the Saturn V rocket and Lyndon B. Johnson's Jet Star. Operates under GSA Schedule contract.
• Additional Paint and Refinishing Services Supplemental aircraft paint services including door jambs, custom paint scheme application, VIP clear coat finish, stainless steel screw kits, camlocs, abrasion boots, additional body work, gear well painting, manufacturer placard kits, Soot Guard Easy Clean coating, and corrosion control.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5-week typical turnaround for general aviation and helicopters
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Leonardo HelicopterscoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2007Straube's Aircraft Services serves as Leonardo Helicopters' in-house paint contractor at their Philadelphia facility. The facility specializes in painting of newly manufactured helicopters. By 2013, Straube's received PART 145 repair station and AS9100D certification for its paint shop serving the Leonardo Helicopters assembly plant.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• StandardAero: StandardAero is a large independent aerospace MRO provider that offers engine and airframe services plus aircraft painting/refurbishment for business aviation, rotorcraft, and military fleets, overlapping with Straube's on helicopter and government work.
• Comlux Aviation: Comlux is a global VIP aircraft completion and management company with interior/exterior finishing capabilities for large-cabin business jets, comparable to Straube's VIP clear coat and corporate jet refinishing offerings.
• Duncan Aviation: Duncan Aviation is a major US business aviation MRO network with multiple paint facilities, including full aircraft strip and refinish services that compete with Straube's helicopter and jet paint offerings.
• Jet Aviation: Jet Aviation is a large global business aviation services group (part of General Dynamics) offering aircraft painting, MRO, completions, and FBO services; it competes for VIP and corporate jet paint work alongside Straube's broader portfolio.
• West Star Aviation: West Star Aviation is a multi-base US MRO group providing airframe, paint, interior, and avionics services for business aircraft; its paint shop operations directly overlap with Straube's corporate jet and general aviation service lines.

Direct peers

• Aerontec: Aerontec operates dedicated aircraft painting facilities in California and Florida (a former Straube's hangared competitor), providing strip, prime, and paint services for general aviation, helicopters, and business jets with comparable turnaround economics.
• Flying Colors Aviation: Flying Colors is a direct competitor offering aircraft painting, interior completions, and refinishing for business jets and turboprops from US and Canadian facilities, overlapping with Straube's on corporate jet and special-mission paint work.

Regional players

• Banyan Air Service: Banyan Air Service is a Fort Lauderdale-based FBO/MRO offering aircraft painting, detailing, and avionics installations, comparable to Straube's service mix but with regional Southeast US focus rather than Southwest/Hawaii.
• Eagle Creek Aviation Services: Eagle Creek Aviation is an Indianapolis-based FBO/MRO with aircraft paint, interior, avionics, and maintenance services, competing with Straube's for general aviation and corporate jet refinishing in the Midwest region.

Others

• Textron Aviation (Cessna) Service Centers: Textron Aviation operates authorized service centers providing factory-supported aircraft painting and refinishing for Cessna and Beechcraft platforms, representing an OEM-adjacent channel that competes indirectly with Straube's third-party paint work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC0UpCg43uTLvJGWW2dntGjQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/AIRSTRAUBE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/airstraube

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Straube's Aircraft Services