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Van Nuys, California / August 6, 2026 - Thornton Aviation helps keep Sea Aviation's medical transport aircraft mission-ready, supporting organ transplant flights when aircraft availability can directly affect life-saving outcomes.Sea Aviation operates Hawker 800XP aircraft used primarily to move organs, doctors and medical teams across the country for transplant missions. The company currently operates two Hawker 800XPs, with a third aircraft planned and a long-term goal of expanding the fleet to as many as 10 aircraft. Supporting that growth requires a maintenance partner able to respond quickly, communicate clearly and help keep downtime to an absolute minimum.Sea Aviation's aircraft support transplant logistics nationwide, transporting organs and medical personnel. "Everything is time critical," said Michael Harkins, aircraft asset manager for Sea Aviation. "You see all this play out step by step. The aircraft fires up, they get where they need to go, and hopefully you save a life in the process."In this environment, maintenance is not simply a scheduled requirement. It is a mission-enabling function. Thornton Aviation supports Sea Aviation with day-to-day maintenance, scheduled and unscheduled work, inspections, AOG response and upgrades, including a Wi-Fi upgrade on one aircraft. For Harkins, the value of the relationship is defined by responsiveness, communication and the willingness to solve problems under pressure.That communication can extend beyond normal business hours. In one time-critical situation, an aircraft needed immediate attention late at night while an organ was already on its way. Harkins began calling everyone he could reach at 2 a.m. Thornton Aviation's team responded, addressed the issue and the aircraft launched within minutes."Hector Jimenez, Thornton Aviation's director of maintenance, went in and took care of the situation," Harkins said. "Ten minutes after he completed it, the plane launched. It was that critical. We were that close to missing a flight."In another example, Thornton Aviation technician Jacob Wagner found a screw in one of the aircraft's tires during an inspection. The issue grounded the aircraft, and a replacement wheel assembly was ordered immediately. When the wrong part arrived, Thornton Aviation used its local network to locate a loaner spare wheel and tire on the field, installed it for one mission and then swapped in the replacement assembly when it arrived."They worked it out so we could borrow that wheel for one flight," Harkins said. "They put that wheel on the airplane, the airplane did a mission, saved a life, came back, the replacement wheel showed up and they swapped them out. That little thing—to use your resources like they do—is priceless."As Sea Aviation brings additional aircraft online, Thornton Aviation's role will continue to be centered on readiness, responsiveness and practical problem solving. The mission demands aircraft that can launch on short notice, often with only a narrow maintenance window between crew rest and the next assignment."For Thornton Aviation, this partnership reflects our company's customer-first approach in one of the most demanding aviation environments imaginable. By combining technical capability, fast communication and a willingness to go beyond routine support, we help ensure that aircraft dedicated to organ transplant transport remain ready for the missions that matter most," said Don Milum, chief revenue officer.