Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 1

187 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 FORT LAUDERDALE , FLOR IDA AND FXE Boasting a long history at FXE, Makers Air is proud to be an industry leader in safety, reliability, and performance. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Joe Hocher, co-founder of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, began flying his Cherokee Six to bring supplies from his hangar at FXE into Staniel Cay. In 2001, Watermakers Air was officially formed and began operating as a 135-charter operator for the specific purpose of flying passengers as well as freight into the Bahamas. Their first aircraft was a single Britten Norman Islander and the only employees were Joe and his son David Hocher, plus one pilot. The “lobby” consisted of folding chairs in a small hangar. Today, Makers Air is proud to operate a fleet of five Cessna Grand Caravans out of its headquarters at FXE, connecting passengers to paradise with daily scheduled flights to the Bahamas and private charters to almost anywhere! Their state-of-the-art passenger lounge has an island-chic, luxurious feel and is the perfect start to business or pleasure travel. One of the core values of Makers Air is simple: Give back to the communities that have helped them grow to where they are now. As a family- owned operation, Makers Air has initiated efforts that lends support to local communities within the Fort Lauderdale and Bahamas regions. Such efforts include hurricane relief alongside the Exuma Foundation and the Exuma Chamber of Commerce; food and supply distribution to families in Staniel Cay during the lockdown phases of the Covid-19 pandemic; hosting a Dream Flight at FXE honoring a local WWII Veteran; and providing holiday gifts to children mourning the passing of a parent through the Adopt-A-Family program at Trustbridge Hospice Foundation. The outreach and engagement efforts of Makers Air enriches the communities in which they serve, and exemplifies Achievement in Community Excellence. Makers Air is proud to contribute to the positive image and altruistic spirit of the City of Fort Lauderdale and FXE. ...... For more information, please visit our website makersair.com friends can hop into a Tesla with a driver and be whisked off, avoiding all the surface traffic. What often takes 30 to 40 minutes to go from point A to point B, will only take you three or four minutes. It drops you off at the beach, where you’re met by a tram to take you anywhere else on the beach that you want to go. This is really important, especially for special events, weekends, holidays, when we get a lot of interest in our beach. “It’s very exciting but traffic is still part of the infrastructure and we’re working with the county and neighboring cities to inaugurate a coastal link between Miami and West Palm. That’s going to call for yet another tunnel through our city to have the train system below grade. Because we’re going to be adding a lot more trains to our city and that’s going to frustrate the vehicular traffic going east and west. As well as river traffic. We have a huge marine industry that depends on the easy flow up and down the river. So we’ve been working with the Fire