Aerox sees opportunity in aviation oxygen system retrofits
Photo / Norm Bell
Lloyd Boston, owner of Aerox in Limington, demonstrates the fit of a mask for his company's oxygen system at the recent National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas.
Lloyd Boston tightens the strap on the mask and takes a step back to check the fit for a potential client. He’s done it hundreds of times and knows that the right fit matters when the life-sustaining oxygen starts flowing.
On a recent afternoon, Boston mans his Aerox booth near the back wall of the giant Las Vegas Convention Center. He was among the last of nearly 1,100 vendors to set up shop, bringing his company’s wares through adjacent doors that were the main entry point for everything from helicopters to aircraft cabins.
Such is life at the three-day National Business Aviation convention. With an estimated 26,000 attendees, the annual gathering is the place to be for vendors. The business assigned the adjacent booth demanded to be moved. But Boston is undeterred. He knows his audience will find him. After all, his company is one of only a handful certified to provide portable and retrofit oxygen systems for aviation use.
The small business formally known as Aviation Oxygen Systems Inc. works out of a growing complex in Limington, 18 miles west of Portland. It wasn’t planned that way, Boston says, it just happened.
The Vermont native had set up his pioneering aviation oxygen business in Hilton Head, S.C., but his wife missed her family and wanted to move back north. A compromise landed them in Limington, where Boston says the family-owned business made its mark as the first to offer high-duration oxygen systems and the first to engineer an oxygen conserving cannula — the flexible tubing that dispenses oxygen through a flowmeter to the nose.
The Federal Aviation Administration recommends pilots use oxygen when flying at night above 5,000 feet. It’s legally required at all times above 12,500 feet. Oxygen in the environment decreases as altitude increases. But fuel efficiency and speed improve as the air thins, a combination that’s attractive to cost-conscious pilots.
Some small planes come with factory-installed oxygen systems. And Aerox systems are original equipment in some models produced by such manufacturers as Diamond, Maverick Jet, Malibu and others. The firm also designs emergency and first aid systems, for use in the air or on the ground.
But the sweet spot of Aerox’s market is in retrofit work. It’s expensive to add an oxygen system to an aircraft, but a portable Aerox system can fit the need for as little as $500 for a one-person system. The most popular systems are for two to four people.
Boston said the tragic death of pro golfer Paine Stewart over a decade ago boosted interest in oxygen systems for small aircraft.
In October of 1999, Stewart had wrapped up play at a golf tournament in Orlando when he and five others boarded a Learjet 35 for a two-hour flight to Dallas. Somewhere along the way, cabin pressurization failed and everyone on board blacked out from hypoxia, a shortage of oxygen in the blood. An investigation of the crash showed the passengers did not get to the manually released oxygen supply before losing consciousness. The plane flew on automatic pilot for up to four hours before crashing in a South Dakota field, killing all aboard.
Today, Boston reports an uptick in orders for oxygen systems for Dash 8 aircraft. Contractors are retrofitting the older models, which are in demand by the military to transport goods and troops on trips that often exceed 5,000 feet in altitude. That means oxygen is needed for everyone on board and that’s a problem Aerox stands ready to solve.
The market for business customers also stands to grow as sales of business jets are expected to increase about 8% this year, according to a forecast by Honeywell Aerospace. The survey, Reuters reported, projects up to 9,250 new business jets will be delivered through 2023.
That general trend could mean a bigger market for Aerox’s oxygen systems.
And don’t forget the mask.
Aerox’s new model is made of all carbon fiber, and has an adjustable pneumatic headpiece so it’s not too tight. “That’s why we spent four years making this,” says Boston, “because we want people to use them.”
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