Lobo Aviation

Lobo Aviation

Diplomatic Shuttle, ISR, and Mission-Tailored Aviation for Complex Environments

Overview

Lobo Aviation is the aviation arm of the Lobo Institute, delivering purpose-built flight operations in environments where commercial service is unreliable, permissions are hard-won, and the passengers, sensors, or cargo on board matter. We combine Lobo’s diplomatic access, interagency relationships, and program-management discipline with trusted aviation partners to field fully integrated capabilities that can execute from day one.

Our work sits at the intersection of policy and operations. Whether the mission is moving U.S. and partner officials into a post-conflict capital, generating timely intelligence for a partner government, or mapping remote corridors for humanitarian and infrastructure planning, Lobo Aviation builds the flight program around the outcome — not the other way around.

Capabilities

Lobo Aviation programs are built around four integrated components:

  • Flight Operations and Aircraft Management — executed by vetted aviation partners, matched to mission requirements across turboprop, ISR-configured, and heavy-payload platforms.
  • Diplomatic Facilitation and Access Coordination — landing permissions, overflight authorizations, host-nation coordination, and U.S. interagency alignment, led by Lobo’s senior diplomatic team.
  • Passenger Services and Security Protocols — manifest coordination, vetting, ground escorts, customs and immigration facilitation, and continuous communications throughout each transit.
  • Program Administration and Investor Reporting — prime program management, operational reporting, after-action assessments, and the business case to transition pilots into sustained, self-funding programs.

Aviation Partners

Gray Summit Aviation

Lobo Aviation works with a curated set of operators selected for proven performance in austere and sensitive environments. Our principal aviation partner is Gray Summit Aviation, a Wyoming-based aviation company that provides aircraft, flight crews, and airside logistics for Lobo-managed programs. Together we field platforms including the Beechcraft King Air family for diplomatic shuttle and rapid-response ISR missions, and the Basler BT-67 for long-endurance survey, wide-area mapping, and heavy-payload requirements. Sensor packages can include MX-series EO/IR turrets, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and airborne LiDAR, configured to the program.

Representative Programs

Amman–Damascus Diplomatic Shuttle

Proposed with Gray Summit Aviation and in coordination with Spirit of America, the Amman–Damascus shuttle is a pilot program to provide a reliable, flexible aviation link between the primary regional staging hub for Syria engagement and the seat of Syria’s new government. The corridor spans approximately 220 nautical miles and is achievable in under an hour aboard a Beechcraft King Air configured for eight to ten passengers, dramatically compressing the timeline for U.S. and partner officials, humanitarian leaders, and private-sector partners engaged in post-conflict stabilization and relationship-building.

Partner-Nation ISR Program Concept (Mexico)

Lobo Aviation has developed a concept for a tiered manned airborne ISR fleet — one Basler BT-67 and two King Air 350-class aircraft, each equipped with MX-20 EO/IR, SAR, and LiDAR — to support a partner government’s counter-organized-crime and national-awareness mission from a central base. The design emphasizes lawful tasking and oversight, a robust processing-exploitation-dissemination pipeline, and a sustainable maintenance and data-security backbone, so a small fleet can deliver national-scale effects.

Leadership

Lobo Aviation draws on Lobo Institute’s senior leadership for diplomatic access and program oversight:

  • Michael “Mick” Mulroy — Co-Founder, Lobo Institute; former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. Diplomatic lead and senior access authority for Lobo Aviation programs.
  • Eric Oehlerich — Co-Founder and Operations Manager, Lobo Institute; retired U.S. Navy SEAL Commanding Officer. Leads security protocol design and operational risk management.
  • Jonathan Bailey — Principal, Gray Summit Aviation. Leads aviation operations, aircraft management, and crew coordination for Lobo Aviation programs.

Partner With Us

Lobo Aviation works with sponsoring organizations, partner governments, and mission-aligned funders to move programs from concept to flight line. To discuss a specific mission requirement or sponsor a pilot program, contact the Lobo Institute at info@loboinstitute.org.