Summit Air

When this blog was first brought to my attention I was upset as to the inaccuracy of the information but I was aware of the party who posted it and gave it little thought afterwards. However, as our company has grown these past few years so has my personal exposure, and those familiar with the internet are aware your exposure increases as you name is brought forward.

Therefore, I feel it is time to respond to this complaint. I started my maintenance company in 1989. In the year 2000 I moved it to its present location. In 2012 I purchased Summit Air and began operating the entire facility.

As a ‘watch and see’ owner I afforded the employees that followed my newly acquired company to adapt to their new owner as well as the gradual changes which were implemented. Two of these employees were given ample opportunity to raise their work standards as well as ethics but failed to do so. After several conversations with their supervisor to try and assist them, they were finally let go. These were friends with the party who posted this complaint.

The comment made regarding the airport lights, the pilots not being able to check the weather as well etc are without merit and that was led me to the party that posted the comment. He was a very unhappy flight instructor which operated on the field. We had numerous issues and complaints about his ‘cowboy’ tactics in the air and addressed them with his supervisor which eventually resulted in his transfer to another airport. The date of his posting coincides with the transfer date.

We did in the meantime address issues that were brought to our attention. On the airport lighting complaint. We have no control over airport lighting, it is controlled by an electric eye. Once this instructor pilot made us aware he was not happy as to the way the lights turned on we had the ‘sensitivity’ of the electric eye adjusted.

His comments on the usage of the weather room as well as coffee, well they were valid to a degree. In our first few months as the new operators of the FBO we had an agreement with the flight school that they would avoid use of the weather room as well as the lobby. They all had their own weather stations in their offices and we need to keep the FBO’s open for the corporate pilots and passengers who were now frequenting our facility. Both the owners of his flight school agreed that their students as well as instructors had no business loitering in the lobby’s and tying up the weather room when they had the same facility’s afforded them in their respective offices.

This instructor pilot however felt he and is students should be allowed to use available lobby chairs, drinking coffee while a corporate passenger stood waiting for their flight. The comments regarding our maintenance shop, well there is no better shop than ours and you will never a see a posted complaint about our services. His comments about ‘sexual remarks’ that was obviously posted to stab deep into anyone reading the blog. It is untrue and slanderous.

As a father of two young ladies I have had the privilege of employing one of them for over ten years as my office manager, and she does not tolerate any degree of disrespect to women from any employee or customer.

It is unfortunate that I must take time to respond to such comments posted on the internet but I also feel for this complainer. I have heard he is not doing so well out there but even so, I wish him the best.

This review submitted is completely inaccurate and slanderous to Mr. Hogarth.

Having known himself and his company for many years I have found he and his staff beyond reproach. The care he and his people has afforded my aircraft has assured my company a safe and reliable ship.

I personally believe this was posted by an employee who had been dismissed with cause. In so far as indicating his rates are a rip off, I am more than satisfied with their quality of workmanship as well as a fair rate afforded me.

John Hogarth who owns Summit Air at Akron Fulton Airport makes sexual comments about women and disrespects customers. He walks around telling people they are not allowed to get cup of "free coffee." Some Pilots are allowed to check the Weather computers and some are not allowed.

He yells at flight instructors who are just trying to survive and make a living. John Hogarth has fired good employees who worked at the airport a lot longer than he has. He did this because he knows other people liked those employees. John Hogarth is so cheap he had the city shut down the pilot control lighting so pilots are not able to turn on the lighting during IMC conditions.

If you bring in your aircraft for him to repair, the aircraft will experience a failure and then he charges you again to do the same repair. No one trusts him to work on aircraft. Other people should be running that airport that know what they are doing not some POS who doesn't know what's going on.

He talks *** about good people and doesn't give anyone a chance. BEWARE!