Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

With an ever-growing number of materials used inside business aircraft cabins, Immaculate Flight cautions operators to understand not only which cleaners to use but also how to use them. The aircraft cleaning specialist has been in business since 2005, and president John Craft said by the time he joined Immaculate Flight in 2006, it already had locations at some of the busiest business aviation locations: Teterboro, New Jersey; Van Nuys, California; and Greensboro, North Carolina.
While the company wasn’t the first in the business aviation market when it began, “There definitely was a need,” Craft said. “There were a couple of big companies but a lot of smaller regional vendors.”
Immaculate Flight's 230 employees clean about 400 aircraft a week at upwards of 125 locations throughout the U.S., from Washington and California to Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and throughout the Southeast. The company is adding three more locations in the Las Vegas area on November 1, under its announced acquisition of Crowe Aviation last week.
Craft told AIN that he hopes to continue to grow the company but at a measured pace. Its&nbsp;growth over time came as aircraft materials and technologies have evolved.
“I think people were starting to understand just how much of a need [specialty cleaning] was and how complex these aircraft are with the different fabrics and configurations,” he said. “They realize that they needed to have a good program in place for the detailing aspect, for the aesthetic aspect, and to protect their investment so it would last longer."
Cleaning has gone away “from the days of just throwing some soap and water on an aircraft and now it has become more complex," he said.&nbsp;This includes the different blends of fabrics, from wools to silks and leathers used on the carpets, seats, and sidewalls. “They’re all specialty, and it takes specialty cleaners.”
But knowing the products is only part of the equation, he added. “Knowing how to use those products properly is key and knowing what product to use on what type of material.”&nbsp;To keep on top of the changes, “There's a lot of learning that goes in and a lot of research and development.”
The more technologically advanced the aircraft, the more care that cleaning specialists need to take to protect the materials and paint, but also items such as antennas on the exterior and electronic features on the inside. “There's a lot of things you need to know about what you're looking for as you can mess up very quickly,” Craft said.
He cautions against operators trying to go to an auto parts store thinking they can buy products to clean the aircraft. “Everything is tested. Usually, it's Boeing and Airbus tested if they test those products,” he explained. “They make sure that the Ph balance [is correct] and there's no corrosive stuff. It doesn't take much to ruin carpet or a sidewall using the wrong product or using the right product the wrong way.”
Operators have returned with scratches from cleaners, he noted. “We've seen so many things. I've seen people use pressure washers outside the aircraft with the cabin door open. I’ve seen people try to use MEK [methyl ethyl ketone]. All of that stuff is very bad and corrosive and costs the operator a lot more in the long term.”
For certain in-flight incidents, such as ink smears, Immaculate Flight provides clients with “fly-away kits” with safe compounds along with instructions on how to use them. “With ink, you want to try to get it while it's fresh.” But he added, once the aircraft is on the ground, “please call us immediately.”
For wine spills, he said to gently blot the spot and contact Immaculate Flight immediately. Anything else may cause the wine stain to set. “When they just grab anything and try to scrub, that's where it gets a little dicey.”
To keep up with changes and materials, Immaculate Flight has partnerships with interior refurbishment, leather, and carpet specialists. “We always keep in touch with what is being put into the aircraft, what's new, what's out, and what's used to clean, along with the proper processes and procedures,” he said.
“And then we pass all of that information over to our research and development department before we ever put it on an aircraft. And, before we even bring it out, we spend a lot of time on this, and it's ever-changing. Aviation is ever-changing.”

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