June 6, 2005 – Every year, as many as 12 owners of private jets come to Ima with a problem. They’ve got a jet with an outdated, worn-out or just plain ugly interior. Ima’s clients are different than the needy families featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where a dilapidated house is magically reborn at no cost to the family—in a week’s time. Money isn’t usually a problem for jet owners.
Take the Gulfstream G4 that Ima and his team at the South Florida Jet Center, a subsidiary of Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Jet Charter, have sitting in a hangar at Fort Lauderdale’s Executive Airport waiting for pick-up.
When Ima first saw it in the Nevada desert, where it sat unused for two years, the interior was not only dirty but also starting to grow mold. Built in 1987, its owner had plunked down $17 million for a jet with an interior that brought to mind a pool hall.
“Everything was green [felt] in here,” says Ima. “I think I have a piece of the old carpet somewhere.”
It’s surprising what six weeks and $350,000 can do.
That shocking green interior is now a study in subtle shades of beige. The seats have been recovered in “Avion Blonde” leather. Decorative panels have been redone in a fabric called “birds afar snowdrift.” Cabin bulkheads are “mirage walnut.” The jet’s 18 cup holders, six ashtrays, 14 passenger seatbelts and faucets in the two lavatories have been re-plated in 24-karat gold. The interior boasts three 20-inch flat-screen TVs, one Sony PlayStation and six 7½-inch personal monitors.
Jet owners come to Ima for both his skill and his eye for detail. All told, this face-lift has added $1 million to the jet’s value.
Ima, 56, has spent his entire working career around jets, starting in his hometown of Dallas almost 30 years ago sweeping out the charter jets that belonged to his then father-in-law. Moving up the ranks of jet refurbishment, he has redone jets for a Saudi king, an Indian princess and an official from Kazakhstan.
But if you think folks who fly on private jets are different than you and I, think again. Ima has found chicken bones under seat cushions, just like in a family minivan. Never mind that Hop-A-Jet’s charter rate is about $5,000 an hour.
“They treat these jets like taxis,” says Ima. “The richer they are, the harder they are on stuff.”
This latest refurbishment began with Ima’s team stripping out every interior component from carpeting to sinks. At this point, the multimillion-dollar jet looked more like a cargo plane. It was then flown to Georgia for a mechanical tune-up and then to Texas for an exterior paint job.
Back in Fort Lauderdale, Ima’s staff of 12—divided between an interior shop, wood shop and seat shop—got to work reinstalling the components that had since been renovated.
Each of the Gulfstream’s six reclining swivel chairs was recovered by Jackie Thornton, who has been doing her custom upholstery work for 20 years. Each seat costs about $10,000 to recover, including new fireproof foam, and takes at least 40 hours of Thornton’s time. She also reupholstered two three-person divans that can fold out into queen-sized beds.
“I came here for an office job and my hobby was sewing,” says Thornton.
Unfortunately, Ima can’t follow his decorating muse to Home Depot or Sears. Everything that goes into a jet has to carry the Federal Aviation Administration’s seal of approval. One customer wanted a bronze eagle inside his private jet. Fine by Ima. It wasn’t his $18,000 that went into fabricating a special mount that met FAA regulations.
With the Gulfstream’s owners set to pick up the renovated jet this week—the reality TV equivalent of a “reveal”—Ima and his team already have several jobs lined up. They’re currently working on a Learjet 55. There are two Challengers lined up and, in the fall, one more Gulfstream is due for a face-lift. By the end of the year, each jet will be ready for its close-up.