The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) has appointed Mark van Berkel as president and CEO. Van Berkel has been a member of COPA for 20 years. He earned his pilot’s license shortly after college and remains an active pilot with an IFR rating. He has held roles as an avionics AME, chief avionics specialist for Transport Canada Aircraft Services, and founder of avionics manufacturer TrueNorth Avionics, which he later sold to Satcom Direct.
Ontic has appointed Brian Sartain as COO. Sartain has more than 35 years of experience in the aerospace industry, having most recently served as senior v-p of repair and engineering services at AAR. He will assume his role on June 5 and will be responsible for day-to-day manufacturing operations.
Dave Makowski has been hired by Elliott Aviation as COO. Makowski has more than 40 years of experience in avionics, operations, and maintenance, having worked for more than 25 years with Delta Air Lines and 10 years with NetJets in operational leadership roles. He most recently served as senior v-p of maintenance management at Wheels Up.
Deena Sullivan has been promoted to president of Corporate Wings. Sullivan has more than 17 years of experience in the aviation industry and previously served as president of client services.
The Air Charter Association (ACA) has appointed Atlas Helicopters operations director Alana Burns to serve on its board with an emphasis on developing membership in the rotary sector. ACA said Burns is “ideally qualified” to support the rotary-wing element of the charter industry, given her position at the UK helicopter charter company and 20 years of industry experience.
Charles Bolden Jr., Matthew Jesch, and David Paddock have been appointed to the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) board of trustees. Bolden is a decorated naval aviator, test pilot, astronaut, and NAHF enshrinee who served as the 12th administrator of NASA from 2009 to 2017. Jesch is the CFO of Tailwind Technologies and has more than 35 years of financial and operational experience with public and private companies. He will also serve as the organization's treasurer. Paddock serves as president of Jet Aviation and has more than 25 years of aviation industry experience.
Janine Iannarelli, founder and president of Par Avion, has been elected chair of the EBAA Associate Member Advisory Council (AMAC). Iannarelli has been a member of EBAA since the early 1990s and an active participant in the council since its formation.
Cirrus Aircraft has promoted Patrick Sniffen to executive director of global marketing. Sniffen served as Cirrus’s director of marketing for more than three years. He previously held roles with Signature Flight Support as v-p of marketing and Jet Aviation as v-p of marketing and communications for the Americas.
Private aircraft management, charter, and maintenance providers Priester Aviation and Mayo Aviation have promoted Carl Bennett to v-p of quality and safety, succeeding Kurt Humm, who is retiring. Since 2018, Bennett has served as director of safety for Mayo Aviation, which joined Priester Aviation last year. His new role extends to both companies. Bennett has more than 35 years of experience in Part 135 passenger and cargo operations.
Crystal Kubeczka has been hired as v-p of sales for Paragon Aviation Group. Kubeczka’s aviation background includes 15 years with FlightSafety International as a subject matter expert in Gulfstream programs, and most recently, as v-p of sales—America at International Trip Support. She is also a member of NBAA’s International Operators Steering Committee where she serves as executive director for the Chief Pilots Roundtable and volunteers on the organization’s Scheduler and Dispatcher committee.
Speedbird has hired Doug Dvorak as v-p of sales. Dvorak has more than 10 years of experience in private jet charter and aircraft sales, having previously served as director of sales for multiple companies.
Zeineb Lassoued has been appointed by ACC Aviation as regional v-p for the Middle East and Africa. Lassoued, who has seven years of industry experience, most recently served as a commercial director at a Monaco-based company.
Discovery Air has appointed Cameron Singh as director of business development. He will assist in the expansion of the company’s 30-acre campus at Northern Colorado Regional Airport (KFNL). Singh has more than 10 years of industry experience, having led various FBO locations for Signature Aviation, including San Jose and Van Nuys, California; Chicago, Teterboro, New Jersey; and the Caribbean. He most recently held leadership roles with the Business Aviation Group.
Andy Wegman has been hired as director of aviation on the Enterprise Services—executive operations team for investment company BlackRock. Wegman has more than 30 years of aviation experience, having served as a U.S. Naval Aviator and as a NATO operational commander. Following military retirement, he worked in the private sector in roles with Phoenix Air, Aerodynamics, Fiserv, and Priester Aviation. His most recent position was director of aviation and chief pilot with T-Mobile.
Elite Jets has hired Peter Boyd as director of aircraft management. Boyd's more than a decade of industry experience includes being director of business development and strategy for JSX, senior account director for the western region and Asia-Pacific for Jet Aviation, and a consultant with Chartright Air Group.
Nathalie Drolet has been hired by ACASS as sales director for its Northwest U.S. and Western Canada territories. Drolet has more than 23 years of experience in the industry, having previously served in sales and marketing at Bombardier and in sales, market analysis, and business development roles at Eclipse Aviation, BBA Aviation, and AirSprint Private Aviation.
West Star Aviation has promoted Adam Bendele to Bombardier team lead and hired Lee Smieja as Gulfstream project manager and Jay King as project manager for Bombardier at its Chattanooga, Tennessee facility. Bendele has been with West Star for 16 years, previously serving as a Challenger crew lead at the Grand Junction, Colorado facility before relocating to Chattanooga in 2020. Smieja has more than 20 years of aviation experience, including a stint at Gulfstream Aerospace. King has more than 17 years of aviation experience and has volunteered at NBAA for maintenance, scholarship, and FAA Part 145 program initiatives.
Omni Aircraft Sales has promoted James Norris to Central U.S. regional sales associate. Before joining Omni, Norris worked in business operations and sales roles for Textron Aviation, TRU Simulation & Training, and FlightSafety International.
Awards and Honors
Sheltair Aviation president and CEO Lisa Holland has been recognized with a 2023 Tampa Bay Business Women Award in the transportation and aviation category. Holland succeeded her father, Jerry Holland, as president of Sheltair in January 2020, navigating the company through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Flight Safety Foundation awarded Bob Agostino, v-p of American Aero FTW at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, with its 2023 Business Aviation Meritorious Service Award during a ceremony last week at the organization's Business Aviation Safety Summit in New Orleans. The award, which has been presented annually since 1975, recognizes Agostino’s "safety accomplishments over a career that spans nearly five decades," according to the foundation.
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) has presented Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) with its annual "Wright Stuff Award" to “honor his ongoing leadership and contributions to America’s aerospace industry and national security.” The award was given to Moran during AIA’s spring board of governors meeting in Washington, D.C.
John Foster III, co-founder of OgaraJets, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Aircraft Dealers Association. The award recognizes “Foster’s 50 years in aviation sales while serving as a model of professional standards for the entire industry.”
Final Flights
Don Bateman, a Canadian electrical engineer and the inventor of the Ground Proximity Warning System, passed away on May 21. He was 91.
Bateman spent most of his career as chief engineer of flight safety avionics at Honeywell before retiring in July 2016. In 2005, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He held 40 U.S. and 80 foreign patents for aircraft terrain avoidance systems, head-up displays and speed control/autothrottle, stall warning, automatic aircraft flight control, and weight-and-balance systems.
He leaves behind a wife, Mary, four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Michael “Mick” Pittard, 80, passed away on May 27.
Pittard owned Hoosier Air Sales, which was later known as Indianapolis Aviation, Kokomo Aviation, and the FBO at Lafayette Airport that became Purdue Aviation. He also founded commuter airline Direct Air and air charter operator Aviation Charter Services. Pittard served as chair of the NATA air charter committee and as a member of the NATA board of directors before being elected as board chair in 1996. In 2022, he was inducted into the Indiana Aviation Hall of Fame as an industry entrepreneur and champion.
He leaves behind a wife, Debbie, seven children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
