Building Banyan Air: Don Campion’s Path from Missionary Child to Aviation Leader

Locality Bank’s Keith Costello sits down with Don Campion, CEO of Banyan Air Service. Don shares his incredible journey from growing up in Nigeria as the child of missionary parents to becoming a prominent figure in the aviation industry.

Key Highlights:

• Early Life: Don’s unique upbringing in Nigeria, where his parents were pioneer missionaries.
• Aviation Passion: How his early experiences with bush airplanes sparked a lifelong interest in aviation.
• Entrepreneurial Journey: The challenges and successes of building Banyan Air Service, including the importance of finding the right partners and creating a strong company culture.
• Philanthropy: Don and his wife’s efforts to rebuild a mission station in Nigeria, highlighting their commitment to giving back.
• Business Insights: The value of relationships, the impact of strong mentors, and Don’s involvement in organizations like Vistage.

Five Powerful Quotes from Don’s Interview:

1. “Our business is really all about relationships. Our fuel doesn’t make that plane (fly) any higher or faster than anybody else’s, but the experience that we can give our customers can be very, very different from that of our competitors.”
2. “Our product is service and our strength is our people and how we do things. We’re selling the ability, the troubleshooting savvy, the attitude of our people. And so as a CEO, as a leader, we’re the creators of that culture in any business.”
3. “What gets measured gets done. And what I mean by that is setting goals, working smart. In our business, we have profit and loss statements for every department. We love to look for continuous improvement.”
4. “We have five principles in our business, in our business philosophy. Number one is honor God in all we do, (2) inspire trust by being trustworthy, (3) help our teammates grow and develop their careers, (4) pursue excellence in continuous improvement, and then (5) contribute to the communities that we serve and beyond.”
5. “You don’t know what you don’t know. And so often just jumping in there because your gut’s telling you so… you’re on the right track.”

Connect with Don:

• Email: dcampion@banyanair.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-campion-11a5a22/
• Visit Banyan Air Service: https://www.banyanair.com/
• Support Egbé Hospital: https://egbehospital.org/

Subscribe to Our Podcast:

🎧 For additional ways to listen, visit localitybank.com/podcast.