Megan Navarro
BUDA — Jennifer Gamon, the face behind Corporate Air Parts and Services (CAPS) Aviation, is committed to advancing aviation safety, while also supporting the next generation that wants to pursue the profession.
In 1983, the company was founded by Neil Looy and Dave Chamberlain initially to specialize in providing aircraft parts and services to the business aviation community, with a focus on Lockheed 731 JetStar, at a hangar in Van Nuys, California. The company grew quickly, adding support for Learjet, Westwind and Citation aircraft, and moved into a larger facility on Hayvenhurst Ave. This expansion also led to CAPS obtaining its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Station authorization.
According to the company’s website, Looy’s aviation journey began with weekends spent at Van Nuys Airport and a six-year stint as an F4 pilot in the U.S. Air Force. His experiences as a pilot for World Airways and Glen Larson further deepened his industry knowledge and passion for aviation, which became the foundation of CAPS Aviation’s core values, the website stated.
Over the years, the company evolved into a multifaceted aviation service provider — CAPS Aviation now offers FAA Repair Station services, equipment rentals, tool calibration and flight crew training, alongside global logistical support.
In 2017, the company rebranded to better reflect its comprehensive services. Following Looy’s passing that same year, his daughter, Gamon, became the CEO and president, bringing fresh leadership, while also preserving the company’s core values, opening the Texas operations, in Buda, in 2021.
“In 2020, I had just had my third child and I was just coming off maternity leave when everything shut down. I was already kind of working from home anyway and was just like, ‘Let's just, I don't know, get in an RV and drive around.’ I don't want to be trapped in my house,” Gamon recalled.
“I mean, I've been — I've got a friend up in Tyler, Texas, a military friend of my father —I've been to Texas many times over the years. I fell in love. I think it was very specifically an interaction here in Buda. It may have been like Summer Moon on Main Street,” she continued. “There was a young, probably high school-aged kid, behind the counter making great eye contact. You know, ‘Yes, ma'am. How can I help you today?’ Very pleasant. And it just kind of clicked for me, that’s how I want my kids to be. I want them to be respectful and courteous and engaged.”
Gamon had been working for the company since 2003, picking up tasks here and there to help out. For her, what was and continues to be the most special out of all of her memories and interactions is the people.
“When you get put into a leadership role, just on the small microscopic level, like not talking about women in aviation in general, but just a leader of a business, not a woman, not a man, the pressure for me, at least, was my decisions, good or bad, are going to affect the lives of roughly 35 people who use this income to feed their families,” she said. “That, for me, just a tremendous level of importance. I did not want to fail them. I wanted to do good by them. I wanted to be known for being an awesome place to work and an awesome person to work for.”
She is also committed to helping out the next generation of aviation maintenance professionals.
For example, during the National Business Aviation Administration Conference in Columbus, Ohio, Gamon purchased $1,200 in raffle tickets to benefit Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) scholarship programs. She had the winning ticket for the grand prize, which was a custom-painted Snap-on toolbox, valued at $12,000.
She then immediately donated the toolbox to South Texas Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA). The toolbox was featured as a highlighted auction item at South Texas PAMA’s annual gala in Houston, where it raised "significant" scholarship funds for the next generation of aircraft maintenance professionals.
“Between the maintenance management conference and the South Texas PAMA, I think the total funds raised were something just shy of $15,000 or $20,000 for that toolbox, if you're combining kind of everything in total. I think their event, just separately, they gave away about $40,000 in scholarships for A&P mechanics and then, I think the event this year earned something like $90,000. It was a record-breaking event for them to give back to the community. The event was in Houston, but the organization represents the entirety of South Texas, which includes Austin, Hays, Buda, San Antonio, etc.”
She has also participated in other events and activities to inspire people — especially women, as a 100% women-owned business, and children — toward future careers in aviation. This includes past events, such as Career Day at Cypress Springs Elementary School and Women in Aviation Day at the Los Angeles chapter of the organization, as well as the Girls in Aviation Day at 9 a.m. Nov. 15 at the Austin Bergstrom International Airport.
The upcoming event, Gamon said, allows kids to go in an airplane hangar and talk to crewmen and people who have chosen aviation as a career path, along with receiving free swag.
“I grew up with a pilot as a father and as a little girl, I don't think anybody ever told me I could also do what my dad did. I don't think it ever really occurred to me. It's not because people were discouraging me, I don’t know, it never occurred to me. I want it to occur to other little girls,” she explained. “I want little girls that aren't good at school, like I wasn't, to know that there's a career in aviation, even if you don't go to college, a ton of them, actually. Aviation is such an insular industry. It's got its own language, kind of like the military or medical, where experience in our world is so important in so many roles, over a college degree.”
To learn more about CAPS Aviation, visit www.capsaviation.com. Information on the Girls in Aviation Day in Austin can be found at www.waiaustin.org/giad.
