Team Member Spotlight: Founder & President, Ross Nyerges

Our fearless leader, founder and president, Ross Nyerges, was born to fly. The son of a lifelong aviator and oilfield charter operator, Ross was flying before he could drive, soloing on his 16th birthday in a Beechcraft Queen Air.

Ross’ dad James grew up in England, having immigrated there with his Hungarian family when he was a young boy. Fascinated by flying machines since the first time he saw one, James went to work for Westland Helicopters as soon as they would accept his application and learned to fly as quickly as he could scrape together the money.

With some real experience and a desire to chase his fortunes out west, James moved to America in the early 70’s. Following his intuition, he landed in Midland, Texas in 1978 and set up shop. He established a part 135 operation, moving oil execs around the region and country, specializing in Queen Airs (the supercharged IGSO-540-powered precursor to the King Air).

Ross made his arrival on planet Earth in 1986, and it wasn’t long before he was a constant right-seat companion to James. “He taught me to fly on instruments because I couldn’t see over the glareshield,” Ross laughs when talking about his childhood in the cockpit. “I can’t really remember a time when airplanes weren’t a part of my life.”

Having logged the majority of his time in the multi-engined Queen Air, Ross couldn’t find a DPE qualified to test him for his PPL. He rented a block of five hours in a Duchess and found a DPE who awarded him his private pilots certificate, multi-engine. He went on to get his multi-instrument and commercial ratings before getting his single-engine add-on at 21.

An A&P by his 18th birthday, Ross flew off to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona after high school, graduating with a BS in Science with minors in Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Science and Math, as well as earning his IA certification at 21. After college, Ross headed straight to the burgeoning tech hub of Austin and established APEX Flight Solutions with an eye on launching his own part 135 operation to serve the tech and oil industries.

After arduous research that started long before he left Prescott, he decided that Hawkers were the best airframe with which to start his new venture. He managed to garner a line of credit with the help of his stepdad, an oil wildcatter. He purchased a Hawker 800A and APEX was born. Not long after, however, the economy took a downturn, especially the oil sector, and Ross’ creditors started tightening their belts. At the same time, the FAA’s certificate approvals slowed to a snail’s pace.

Seeing the writing on the wall, rather than continue to make acquiring a part 135 certificate the main goal, Ross turned his focus toward aircraft management and contract pilot services, and APEX began to grow into the company it is today.

With the company well established as a turbine-aircraft maintenance facility, and with several management clients, APEX has become a fixture in the Austin aviation industry and is once again driving towards part 135 operations. During the pandemic, Ross saw an opportunity to expand the company’s horizons by inviting into the fold a new Chief Operating Officer, Adham el-Effendi, an entrepreneur with strong business bona fides who has helped the company grow substantially over the last year while allowing Ross to focus on flying and maintaining the fleet. He also invited a new Director of Aircraft Sales and Acquisitions, Clayton Corn, to join. We’ll meet both of them in future Flyers.

“Over the next five years, I’d like to see our part 135 operation grow to a fleet of ten or more planes, and I’d like to see our management and maintenance side grow,” Ross says when asked about his vision for the future of the company. “I’d also like to see us get to $50-million a year in sales and acquisitions. I think the future’s bright, not just for APEX, but for the aviation industry as a whole. I’m just excited to be a part of it.”