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Flying High Recent acquisitions and a focus on quality help airline supplier take flight

By Allan S. Roness

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The company: Kellstrom Industries Inc. in Sunrise, Florida, is arapidly growing independent dealer of refurbished jet engines andparts.

Markets: As a fast-growing player in the $3.75 billionaircraft engine parts industry, Kellstrom provides its products to26 major airlines worldwide. The current trend of airlinesoutsourcing is providing independents such as Kellstrom with growthopportunities.

The company is one of the few resellers of its type to havereceived ISO 9000 quality certification, an important factor assafety and quality become larger purchasing determinants than pricein the wake of recent airline safety problems. The Federal AviationAdministration requires airlines to use only accredited suppliers,and partly due to the ISO 9000 certification, Kellstrom hasobtained approved supplier status from more than 50 customers insix countries.