ASD Founders Announce Launch of Cremation Air: Aerial Scattering Service for Funeral Homes

Media, PA– The Czachor family, founders of ASD — Answering Service for Directors, have launched a new aviation-based venture: Cremation Air, a professional aerial ash scattering service designed exclusively for funeral homes. The service provides meaningful ocean and waterway scatterings completed by certified commercial pilot Andrew Czachor, son of ASD Family-Member Owner Marty Czachor.

For more than five decades, ASD has served as the funeral profession’s communication heartbeat, helping directors support families with compassion and dependability. As cremation rates continue to rise nationwide, the Czachor family saw a natural opportunity to expand their commitment to funeral service by offering a dignified, trackable aviation solution that meets the growing demand for personalized scattering options.

The concept for Cremation Air grew from the family’s shared passion for both aviation and funeral service. What began as Marty’s interest in flying evolved into a family pursuit, with Andrew and Jess Czachor earning their pilot licenses. Over time, conversations in the hangar intersected with the needs of funeral directors, inspiring the creation of a service that blends technical precision with heartfelt purpose.

“At ASD, we’ve always looked for ways to serve directors beyond the phone line,” Marty shared. “With Cremation Air aerial scattering, we’re extending that same trust skyward—helping funeral homes offer families something truly meaningful. Everything about this came from the heart of a family that understands the profession. Our goal is to help directors offer something extraordinary to the families they serve.” 

Cremation Air was intentionally built as a partner to funeral directors, not a consumer competitor. Through the secure C-Air Process—centered on Clarity, Assurance, Integrity, and Respect—directors can submit orders, track each step of chain of custody, and receive full documentation. After each scattering, they are provided with a personalized video tribute and a certificate that includes the date, time, and GPS coordinates to present to the family.

Each scattering is performed aboard a Beechcraft Bonanza G-36 outfitted with GPS tracking, three hi-def video cameras and a custom-designed, carbon fiber scattering chute. Operations follow strict FAA guidelines and USPS and EPA requirements, ensuring cremains are handled and dispersed with professionalism and accountability. Only trained crew members are on board, reinforcing the elevated standards built into every Cremation Air flight.

“We wanted to bring the same professionalism that families receive in every part of a funeral service into the air,” explained Patrick Kane, Cremation Air’s Business Development Strategist, “covering every detail, paying extra attention to chain of custody communication, and having extreme accountability.”

Cremation Air made its official company debut during the 2025 NFDA Convention, where directors immediately recognized its practicality and value. Many noted that families have long inquired about ocean scatterings, and Cremation Air now provides a trusted, funeral-home-centered solution that helps directors meet those requests while expanding their service offerings.

Currently operating in Pennsylvania and Florida, Cremation Air focuses on ocean, gulf, and Great Lakes scatterings, with plans underway to expand to the Pacific Coast. As the team continues building co-branded opportunities and refining its systems, the mission remains clear: to honor life’s final journey with the same compassion, reliability, and innovation that have defined ASD for more than 50 years—now carried forward, into the skies.

About Cremation Air LLC

Cremation Air provides aerial scattering of cremated remains along the coastal regions of the United States. The company helps funeral directors meet the growing demand for scattering of cremated remains with ease and confidence. Cremation Air uses state of the art technology and secure tracking capabilities to ensure that scattering over U.S. Coastal Waters is dignified, reliable, and professional. To learn more, call 888-970-7400 or visit cremationair.com.

Flying Farewells: Cremation Air Brings Innovation and Dignity to Aerial Ash Scatterings

When you think of cremated remains scattering from an airplane, you might imagine a cinematic, peaceful moment—a graceful release into the sky. But for most people, that romantic image comes with a long list of logistical, regulatory, and technical challenges. Pat Kane, Business Development Strategist for Cremation Air, LLC, says that’s exactly why the company exists: to make dignified, trackable aerial scatterings possible—and easy—for funeral directors to offer to their families.

Cremation Air, founded by the Czachor family of ASD – Answering Service for Directors, is the newest venture from a name already known and trusted in deathcare. The company operates a Beechcraft Bonanza G36, piloted by Andrew Czachor, the son of ASD’s Chief Technology Officer Marty Czachor. From conception to takeoff, the entire project has been a family effort grounded in care, precision, and respect.

Business to business, by design

While a handful of other companies offer aerial scatterings directly to consumers, Cremation Air’s model is designed specifically for deathcare professionals. 

“That’s the big difference,” Kane says. “With ASD’s foundation in deathcare, we wanted this to be business-to-business—to help directors offer families something meaningful and unique, while also putting some revenue back in their pockets.”

Cremation Air’s process is streamlined with directors in mind. Everything is handled through a simple, trackable system: directors submit an online order, include the necessary documents (cremation certificate and authorization to scatter), and ship the cremated remains to Cremation Air via USPS. From there, every step—receipt, flight scheduling, scattering—is tracked through a barcode system that provides updates to both the director and, optionally, the family.

“We knew tracking was critical,” Kane says. “When Kathy Czachor Kelley went to one of the women’s professional conferences, she came back saying, ‘We have to knock this out of the park from a tracking point of view.’ That’s where most horror stories come from, and we wanted to eliminate that.”

A new kind of memorial experience

Each family receives a tribute video showing the aircraft in flight and the scattering ceremony, along with a certificate of scattering. In the near future, families will be able to link the video directly to an obituary page, or even receive it on an elegant LCD memorial booklet that plays the video when opened—something Kane says could replace the “urn on the mantle.” At $395 per individual scattering, the service is accessible for many families and gives directors flexibility in pricing. 

The current operations serve the East Coast and Gulf Coast regions as well as the Great Lakes, with hangars in Philadelphia and Tampa. Each flight follows strict FAA guidelines, releasing remains three miles offshore from the selected coastal location or over designated bodies of water.

The human connection behind the mission

Although the technology and logistics behind Cremation Air are impressive, Kane says it’s the human element that truly defines the company. A former educator and school administrator, he came to deathcare through personal connections with the Czachor family—first as a teacher and coach to Andrew, then as a collaborator on the project.

“Andrew is 25 years old and is so thorough about the process,” Kane says. “He makes you feel so comfortable about getting up in that plane, which is the most important thing. So for him at that age, to be the way that he is, it’s really remarkable. I give him so much credit for wanting to do this.”

That same commitment, Kane believes, mirrors the heart of funeral service. 

“The grieving process has ebbs and flows,” he says. “If a director can connect with a family—make them laugh when they need to laugh, help them remember in the right way—that’s what makes the difference. Funeral directors are part of their communities; they really care. This service is just one more way to help them care.”

For families, aerial scattering through Cremation Air offers a poetic and respectful way to say goodbye. For directors, it’s a new opportunity to extend service and create value in the era of cremation.

“If a family has someone who loved the ocean, or who served in the Navy, or who was a pilot themselves—this is a natural fit,” Kane says. “And the best part is, they can still do everything else: keepsake jewelry, memorial items, urns. This isn’t an either/or. It’s an and.”