Thunderbird Aviation ends an era at Flying Cloud

Thunderbird Aviation pays tribute to its past and looks to its future with demolition of original facility.

On a bright, sunny recent afternoon, with Thunderbird’s President and CEO, Nancy Grazzini-Olson, at the controls, a bulldozer quickly erased from the landscape a building that was a fixture at Flying Cloud Airport (KFCM) for more than 50 years. 

“We trained thousands of pilots in that building and it survived tornados, snowstorms and every other type of Minnesota weather, so I thought it was only fitting to be the one to get the first swing of the  bulldozer,” commented Nancy Grazzini-Olson, President of Thunderbird Aviation.

With onlookers made up of generations of Thunderbird employees and customers, Grazzini-Olson quickly crushed the roof and the frame of the old iconic Thunderbird sign that had graced the top of the building for over half a century.

“We all were a little sad to see our unique facility get torn down, but I think it was a fitting tribute to the end of this chapter in our history," said Grazzini-Olson. "We are all committed to making our investment in our new state of the art executive terminal and training facility and brand new ramp a success and we look are looking forward to taking care of another generation of customers in our new facility."