Jack Pelton, chairman, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft, and John Rosanvallon, president and CEO of Dassault Falcon, have been elected to the board of Corporate Angel Network, the nonprofit that arranges free flights for cancer patients using empty seats on business aircraft. Dassault Falcon also announced the promotion of Jeff Habib to senior vice president of U.S. sales. Matt Doyle, formerly the vice president of sales for Avantair, has been named Cessna Citation area sales manager for the northeastern U.S.
Marine Corps Gen. James Jones has been elected to the Boeing board of directors. Formerly the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of the United States European Command, Jones is currently president and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Boeing has also named Richard Hauser vice president and assistant general counsel in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Frank Gozzo, chairman and CEO of Noverant, has been named a member of the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam) program, an initiative designed to enhance aviation safety through data mining and analysis, instruction in the use of safety-management systems and risk-management tools, and development and distribution of educational materials.
Rolls-Royce has named Michel Toutant president and COO of Rolls-Royce Canada. He replaces Pierre Racine, who is retiring after eight years as president.
European air-taxi operator JetBird has appointed Stefan Vilner CEO. Vilner joins the company from Sterling Airlines, where he served as chief commercial officer. He is also chairman of the European Low Fares Airline Association.
Retired Navy Reserve Commander Jonathan Gaffney has been named president of the National Aeronautic Association.
UK-based Twinjet has appointed Philip Moore to its board following his promotion to operations director. Julian Burrell has been appointed director of charter sales for The Charter Company, the charter brokerage arm of Twinjet.
Hawker Beechcraft has appointed Mike Hinderberger vice president of product development for the Hawker line. Kerry Masher has been promoted to vice president of product development for the Beechcraft line.
EADS Socata has named Frank Micholet vice president of procurement and supply management. He succeeds Raphael Duflos, who moved to EADS Astrium.
London-based Air Partner announced the following senior management promotions at its London Gatwick headquarters: Simon Moore, Gatwick director of private jets division; Matthew Savage, UK manager for commercial jets; Richard Thomas, director of group marketing; and Celine Shabbas, European marketing manager.
Peter Hartman has been named managing director of ExecuJet Europe, the European aviation services arm of ExecuJet Aviation Group.
Gulfstream Aerospace has promoted Michael Filipe to director of powerplant and environmental control systems engineering.
Francisco Hernandez has been appointed worldwide director of sales for the Universal Avionics product line at DAC International. He has been responsible for all sales in Latin America for the past 10 years.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics has named Allan Day general manager and director of its electronics manufacturing solutions business.
Fort Lauderdale-based Gold Aviation Services has appointed Marc Bajaj director of aircraft ownership programs.
Geoff Shilton has been named vice president/general manager of Byerly Aviation. Eric Wolfe has joined the company as an aircraft salesman.
FlightSafety International has promoted Stanley Jhagroo to manager of the FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, Fla. He succeeds Dick Skovgaard, who is retiring.
Shadin Avionics has announced the following additions to its staff: Linda Griffitts, regional sales manager, Western U.S; Samantha Butero, rotorcraft sales manager; and Terrence Mahoney, customer service support manager.
Montreal-based Execaire has appointed Tony Caruso regional sales manager.
Dassault Test Pilot Retires
Yves “Bill” Kerhervé, Dassault’s chief test pilot and a familiar face to many in the business aviation industry, retired from the company after the Paris Air Show, where he demonstrated the agility of his company’s civilian flagship, the fly-by-wire Falcon 7X. Kerhervé, 63, is a former French Navy pilot. He is known for his role in testing a number of military aircraft and developing the Rafale fighter and several Falcons. He has logged 8,000 hours, including 5,000 as a test pilot.
Award & Honors
The National Aeronautic Association has awarded U.S. Army Col. Mary Feik the 2006 Frank G. Brewer trophy for significant contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the U.S. She began her career working in an aircraft maintenance shop when she was a teenager and later joined the U.S. Army Air Force, teaching aircraft maintenance to mechanics at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. She was the first woman engineer in research and development in the Air Technical Service Command Division, and in 1996 she became the first woman to earn the Charles Taylor Master Mechanics Award.
Final Flights
Bruce Kennedy, 68, former CEO of Alaska Airlines and chairman of the board of trustees of Quest Aircraft, was killed in a Cessna 182 crash in June near Cashmere Airport in Washington. According to the FAA report, the Cessna hit a tree on final approach and was destroyed on impact.
Kennedy, a graduate of the University of Alaska, joined the board of directors of Alaska Airlines in 1972, and between 1978 and 1991 he served as chairman, CEO and president. He was also involved in humanitarian and Christian missionary work. His missionary work led him to serve as chairman of Quest Aircraft. The company was formed in 2001 to develop the Kodiak, a 10-seat turboprop designed for
missionary and humanitarian work in remote areas of the world.
Kennedy is survived by his wife, two children and two grandchildren.
Dr. John Pippin, 79, founder of EMS Technologies, died last month after a prolonged illness. Pippin founded the company in 1968 and retired as chairman in 1998.
The company focused on developing technologies for advanced wireless communications, and during Pippin’s time as chairman EMS pioneered the use of ferrite technology for space applications. In 1976 EMS built the first electronically steered antenna for use by the U.S. Defense Satellite Communications System to ensure secure communications between military and government leaders. Nearly all military satellites use EMS technology today and its EMS Satcom division makes antennas for business jets.
Robert Waddell, 63, owner of Aviation Concepts and founder of the Society of Independent Aircraft Appraisers, died at his home in June. He became a pilot in 1962 and, after many years in the broadcasting industry, began his aviation career in 1975. He was involved in charter, sales, contract flight department management and aircraft appraisals for 16 years. He was one of the first senior certified aircraft appraisers for the National Aircraft Appraisers Association, and he was an aircraft photographer.
He is survived by two children and four grandchildren.
