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EXCLUSIVE: CHARLES FABRIKANT Interview with By Tiffany Tong Charles Fabrikant Charles Fabrikant started his career in the late 1960s as a lawyer, initially specializing in environmental law, which at the time was a newly burgeoning field. Having taught the subject in law school, then working for the Environmental Protection Agency when it was first formed, Charles set up his own law firm with a former colleague. However, Charles found the work unsatisfying, and with his family taking an interest in the international shipping business and owning tankers and bulk ships, it wasn’t long before Charles took an interest as well. “I remember reading an article around that time in one of the financial magazines and it talked about Greek ship owners as modern day pirates with eyes in the back of their heads, and that sounded like a lot of fun to me,” says Charles. The family shipping business was called SEACOR, and operated vessels mainly from Greece, but also in other parts of the world. Breaking into the helicopter industry During the early part of the 1980s the global economy suffered what is widely regarded to be one of the worst recessions since the end of the second world war, and America’s grain exports consequently dropped substantially. As a result, activity dropped and the international shipping business was badly affected. Sensing the fall out early, Charles liquidated the family shipping business in 1981, in what he himself calls a ‘lucky move.’ Having then spent some time in the in-land transportation industry, Charles’ return to shipping would come in 1989 with a move into the Oil and Gas support sector. During a lunch one Christmas, Charles met up with a friend who asked him if he wanted to break into the helicopter industry. But it wasn’t until 2001 when an executive called Charles to inform him that there was a helicopter company looking for capital. Eventually, in 2002 Charles acquired Tex-Air – a Gulf of Mexico-based operator using single-engine helicopters. With the boom in deepwater activity and drilling, Charles remembers “we were inspired and figured it would be a launching base for a bigger business.” This would later pay off when in 2005 a drilling company called Rowan put its helicopter business Era up for sale. Charles notes “my instinct had told me, the new management of Rowan would have no interest in helicopters, and it turned out to be the case.” About eight years later Charles created a tax-free dividend for SEA- COR shareholders, and spun Era off as an independent company. “Our view was that eventually, the industry would need to consolidate,” he says. “History has suggested based on what I’d seen, consolidation would be necessary.” Having taken SEACOR public, Charles stayed on as the Chairman of Era until its 2020 merger with Bristow. Business aviation lands in China Shortly after getting involved in the helicopter industry, Charles first met Wu Zhendong, CEO of Avion Pacific. Charles states that it was an “interesting experience.” According to him, Era’s general manager called one day asking if he would be open to meeting a gentleman with whom they had done business leasing aircraft into China. After a New York Chinese dinner, the deal was set - SEACOR invested in Avion Pacific. Charles says that it was a fascinating time to be involved in business aviation in China as the industry was still very much in its infancy – it was then that he started to learn more about fixed-wing aircraft. Avion Pacific’s portfolio around that time mostly consisted of helicopters but it was looking to expand into fixed-wing aircraft. Around the same time, Hawker Beechcraft was looking to break into the Chinese market with its turboprop and business jet aircraft. Avion soon became an authorized Hawker Beechcraft sales representative for China, eventually becoming the country’s master dealer. <strong>Asian</strong> <strong>Sky</strong> Group is born During 2010, with Zhendong’s primary focus on the booming Chinese business aviation market, he and Charles jointly came up with the idea of creating a new company located outside of mainland China that could capitalize on the growth in the region. “The idea was to expand the brokerage side of the business,” Charles elaborates. “Then <strong>Asian</strong> <strong>Sky</strong> Group THIRD QUARTER <strong>2021</strong> — ASIAN SKY QUARTERLY | 39