Air Tractor’s 50th Anniversary Soirée Honors a Legend and a Legendary Ag Aviation Company

Air Tractor’s 50^th Anniversary Soirée Honors a Legend and a Legendary Ag Aviation Company
Last week in Olney, Texas, at its company headquarters and plant, Air Tractor celebrated its 50th anniversary with a banquet that included the company’s employees, city officials and leaders in the agricultural aviation industry. The event honored Air Tractor’s late founder Leland Snow, on his 94th birthday. It also paid tribute to Air Tractor’s suppliers, and their employees—both past and present—that since the first AT-300 was certified 50 years ago has now manufactured over 4,600 airplanes.

Air Tractor Vice-President of Sales Kristin Edwards, Leland and Nancy Snow’s oldest daughter, opened the event followed by President Jim Hirsch. The ceremony included a great documentary of the company, including Leland’s early days designing Snow aircraft, selling his first aircraft company to defense contractor Rockwell and starting afresh with Air Tractor and the company’s innovations, hiccups, rebounds, and more innovations. That first Air Tractor AT-300 designed for agricultural purposes, has since led to Air Tractor aircraft designed and/or used for fighting wildfires, narcotic crop eradication, fuel-hauling to remote villages, fighting locust plagues, mosquito control, and cleaning up oil spills in coastal waters. From North, South and Central America, to Australia, Indonesia and China to Spain, Italy, Croatia and Africa, Air Tractor aircraft can be found in more than 40 countries around the world.

Attendees at the banquet and that are familiar with the company can see how the “i” in Air Tractor can easily stand for innovation. Starting with a 300 gallon aircraft to 400, 500, 600, and 800 gallons, Air Tractor now has a 1,000 gallon aircraft nearing certification. Special guest and former Pratt & Whitney Canada Chairman and CEO Gilles Ouimet spoke to the banquet crowd about working together with Leland to consistently and dependably equip turbine-designed powerplants onto Air Tractor airplanes increasing their payload, reliability and speed. Chris Lockhart, sales coordinator at Air Tractor, Inc. spoke about how in 2008, Leland and Nancy Snow and daughters Kristin and Kara had the interests of the company and its employees in mind when they signed the papers to establish Air Tractor as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which is an employee benefit succession arrangement that enables employees to own shares in the company. Kyle Schrader, aerospace engineer and certification manager for Air Tractor gave a special tribute to President Jim Hirsch and his leadership prowess at Air Tractor. Hirsch has now been with Air Tractor for 32 years and took over as the company’s president in 2011 after Leland Snow’s passing, keeping the Air Tractor company keel steady during the transition and to this day over a dozen years later.

The celebratory event was as successful as the Air Tractor company in which it showcased, which is currently on target to achieve manufacturing a record, 2024 production goal of 218 airplanes.