FlightSafety International announced Hector Zarate as interim president of the company’s services corporation. Zarate joined FlightSafety in 1986 and was most recently program manager for the KC-46.">
Tamarack Aerospace has appointed Brian Cox president. Cox joined the company in 2015 and previously served as COO.
Margaret Jenny, president of RTCA, is retiring this month. Jenny has led the organization, which develops technical guidance for government regulatory authorities and industry, over the past decade. She previously received NATCA’s James L. Oberstar Sentinel of Safety Award.
Roei Ganzarski has been appointed CEO of magniX. Ganzarski previously served as CEO of BoldIQ and chief customer officer of flight services at Boeing.
Howard Allred has been appointed CFO of West Star Aviation. Allred has served in a senior financial leadership position for over 31 years at companies including Nike and Specialized Bicycle.
Milestone Aviation has appointed Jeremy Akel to executive vice president, commercial, and Lauren Norelli to COO. Akel was formerly senior vice president and COO for Bristow. Norelli was previously the company’s senior vice president of strategy and corporate development.
Aviation Financial Consulting appointed Julianne Christensen senior vice president and chief operations officer. Christensen will be responsible for developing new client relationships and assisting in streamlining current processes to accommodate growth.
Aerion has appointed Roger Noble vice president of sales for the Eastern U.S. Noble was most recently Bombardier’s director of new aircraft sales for the Northeast and was a captain and flight commander in the U.S. Air Force. Noble flew and instructed in the supersonic F-4E Phantom fighter.
The Aerospace Industries Association has appointed Timothy McClees vice president for legislative affairs. McClees has more than 30 years of defense and governmental operations experience and previously served as chief of staff to the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.
Aaron Cook has joined Pentastar Aviation as director of corporate training and development. Cook will oversee flight crew training and other training programs for the company and has more than 5,000 hours of flight time.
Steve Schrammel is the new director of FBO services at Washington Dulles for Jet Aviation. Schrammel joined Jet Aviation after 13 years as an operations manager for Landmark Aviation and has more than 20 years of industry experience.
Blackhawk Modifications has tapped David Parsons as director of sales coordination. Parsons will coordinate Blackhawk’s global support team. He previously worked for Pratt & Whitney Canada and Caterpillar.
Guardian Flight appointed Steve Kelly to director of safety. Kelly is responsible for safe operations at all of the company’s bases serving 15 U.S. states.
Alexander Tang has been appointed Global Jet Capital associate sales director for Asia. Tang will be based in Hong Kong and has extensive knowledge surrounding aircraft leasing tax transactions.
John D. Witzig, vice president of corporate aviation for Pfizer, has been named to the NBAA board of directors. Witzig is an ATP-rated pilot with more than 7,000 hours of flight time.
Neil Singer has been appointed chief flying officer for jetAVIVA. Singer is a five-time Master CFI, FAA DPE, and has more than 10,000 hours of flight experience in more than 50 aircraft types.
Jaap Beijer is now the general manager of MTU Maintenance Zhuhai. Beijer was formerly senior vice president aftermarket IAE AG.
Castle & Cooke Aviation has welcomed three staff members to its dedicated management team. Casey Pullman will serve as general manager of the company’s VNY location and brings 15 years of experience to the team. Joshua Yun is the company’s new controller and has 20 years of high-level financial and CPA experience. Natalie Hidalgo, who has worked with the company since 2013, has been promoted to customer service manager at VNY.
West Star Aviation has announced Scott Sweeney as the general manager of the company’s East Alton facility. Sweeney has more than 30 years of aviation experience and recently served as the vice president of operations at Constant Aviation.
Lauren Rones Payne has been named general manager of Million Air White Plains. Payne most recently served as general brand manager for Gucci.
Brian Collins is now Air Culinaire’s West Coast sales manager. Collins brings five years of business aviation and three years of culinary experience to the team.
Delair has announced that Michael Blondeau is the company’s North American sales manager. Blondeau has 15 years of piloting, training, and commercial drone operational experience.
Tom Carlson is now the services and components sales manager for Wipaire. During Carlson’s 30-year career in the industry, he has held positions with UTC, Pratt & Whitney, Alcoa, and AeroVision, among others.
Duncan Aviation welcomed Tim Kelly as the company’s new regional avionics sales manager. After beginning his career in the U.S. Navy, Kelly spent 30 years working for BendixKing/AlliedSignal Aerospace and then Honeywell prior to joining Duncan.
B&H has appointed Colin Kaltner as head of operations and Sita Tauakipulu as commercial accounts manager. Both Kaltner and Tauakipulu have previously worked for the company and are now returning in these senior positions.
Shannon Rupe has joined Gray Stone Advisors as a senior project manager. She is also a subject expert for UAV/UASs.
The NATA board of directors named Jeff Ross chair and Curt Castagna vice chair of the board. Ross is president and CEO of Ross Aviation in Denver, and Castagna is president and CEO of Aeroplex and Aerolease.
Thomas Opelt was elected to Honeywell's global customer committee (GCC) as electrical vice chair for Europe, Middle East, Asia, and India. Opelt is the manager of maintenance avionics at Aero-Dienst, and the GCC works jointly with Honeywell to develop improvements through member input.
The CBAA namedPeter T.R. Bing, director of aviation operations and chief pilot for Sobeys, as chair. James Elian, president and COO of AirSprint, will serve as vice chair.
Joshua Diggs and Jacob Jones have joined the Avfuel sales team. Diggs has 20 years of customer care experience and will be the company’s district manager. Jones will serve as Avfuel’s contract fuel inside sales coordinator based at the company’s headquarters.
Mark Francetic has joined the SoCal Jets sales team. Francetic has more than 35 years of experience and most recently worked for Duncan Aviation as a regional sales manager.
The Air Charter Association has appointed Ilaria Iacobini and Kevin Ducksbury to the BACA Council. Iacobini is the ground handling sales manager EMEA for Universal Aviation and has more than 15 years of industry experience. Ducksbury previously worked for Monarch Airlines and Air London before starting his consultancy and management services company, Emerge Aviation.
IBAC announced two new team members at its Montreal location. Cheima Ben Brahim will serve as office administrator and previously held executive administration positions with a natural resources development company in Tunisia. Brenda Pizano will be the company’s program support manager and has been performing functionality testing and business development for companies in Montreal.
AWARDS AND HONORS
The Air Traffic Control Association has announced Linda Hall Daschle as the 2018 recipient of the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award. Daschle was the first female to hold the post of acting administrator for the FAA. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the position of FAA deputy administrator.
Aviation Performance Solutions announced that instructor Lee “Monty” Hall has earned the Master Certificated Flight Instructor (MCFI) designation with the additional aerobatic distinction. Hall previously served 11 years as program manager for the U.S. Air Force initial flight training program and as an active duty Air Force officer for more than 26 years.
Michael Gibson of Banyan aircraft sales has been recognized as the top salesperson in North America for the HondaJet. Gibson joined Banyan in 2017 and sold three HondaJets within nine months.
NBAA named Samuel Wagener as this year’s recipient of the Dale “Potsy” McBurney Aviation Scholarship. Wagener is the owner of Direct Approach Aviation and plans to use the scholarship to complete the NBAA CAM program.
