Barry Knuttila, formerly senior v-p of technology and marketing for King Schools, was promoted to CEO, while Dave Jackson, who had been president and CEO, becomes president and COO. John and Martha King remain co-chairmen. Jackson, who joined the company from the movie industry in 1997, took on the role of president in 2000 and CEO in 2006. He recommended the promotion of Knuttila, who joined the company from the enterprise software industry in 2002.
Wheels Up named Robert Garrymore president of corporate sales. Garrymore, formerly president of Executive Jet Management, joined Wheels Up in 2013 as president of ventures.
The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) added Steve Cok and Robert Hamel to its Board of Governors. Cok, who has more than 5,600 hours and more than 12 years of aviation experience, is director of operations and chief pilot for Northern Jet Management. Hamel, safety manager for JetSuite, has 15 years of experience with the U.S. Navy and on-demand operators.
Ken Goodman has joined Jet Support Services (JSSI) as CFO. Goodman was formerly senior vice president of financial planning and analysis for NetJets.
Milestone Aviation has reorganized its management and hired eight new executives. Walter Horsting was named senior vice president of commercial for Europe and the Americas. Jonty Nel, who joined the company from GECASE, is the vice president of commercial for emerging markets. In addition to Nel, newly named vice presidents of commercial in the Europe and the Americas organization are Sebastien Moulin, continental Europe; John Parnell, northern Europe and Canada; François Arnaud, Latin America and the Caribbean; and Scott Fitzgerald, U.S. Joining the emerging markets organization as vice presidents of commercial are Stephanie Tovoli, northern Asia and Russia; Brett Rankin, southern Asia-Pacific and central Asia; and Michael York, Turkey, India, Middle East and Africa.
Embraer Executive Jets realigned its North American sales team, naming David Armstrong to lead the team as senior v-p of North American sales. Armstrong joined Embraer in 2013 after holding a series of sales positions with Cessna and Flexjet. Joining Armstrong on the leadership team are Ryan Scott, who was promoted to vice president of sales for the Eastern U.S., and Cameron Gowans, who becomes vice president of sales for the Western U.S. Scott has served with Embraer for 25 years in product support, sales engineering, marketing and sales positions. Gowans, meanwhile, has 25 years of aviation experience in total, eight of them at Embraer. Also joining the team are Timon Huber, regional sales director for the Southeast; and Dylan Haynie, regional sales director for Texas. Huber moves to the Executive Jets division after four years with Embraer Commercial Aviation. Haynie previously held sales and legal services positions with Flexjet.
Leading Edge Jet Center named Phillipp Spitzer general manager. Spitzer has 12 years of general aviation experience, having most recently served as safety and training manager for TAC Air at Denver Centennial Airport.
Executive AirShare appointed Kerry (Len) Durr director of managed aircraft, based at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport in Texas. Previously Durr was assistant director of operations for Era Helicopters in Lake Charles, La.
Aero Precision named Stacey Burden vice president of supply chain management. Burden has more than 25 years of industry experience, having held roles with Bell Helicopter, Boeing and most recently CHC Helicopter.
West Star Aviation appointed Chad Adams as Bombardier Global aircraft program manager. Adams was most recently lead technician at Bombardier.
APP Jet Center promoted Jose Quezada to assistant general manager of its FBO in Hayward, Calif. Quezada previously served as line service towing supervisor for the Hayward facility.
Comlux America appointed Philippe Karam as chief procurement officer and Johannes Seeger as head of MRO programs. Karam, who joined Comlux in 2011, previously held procurement, transport logistics and contracts administration responsibilities for Airbus. Seeger’s 25-year aviation career includes a stint as head of VIP project management and customer service for Lufthansa Technik Switzerland.
Gulfstream Aerospace promoted longtime employee Brian Durrence to serve as vice president of engineering. Durrence joined the company as a structural engineer in 1990 and most recently was chief engineer. Bill Skinner has been named vice president, treasurer and financial planning. Kimberly Benson will succeed Skinner in his former role as vice president, corporate controller. Benson most recently was director of financial reporting, planning and analysis. Gulfstream further hired Sheryl Bunton to serve as chief information officer (CIO). Bunton has held CIO roles for Agco and Southwire. She also served as general manager for MYTecSoft. In addition, Jim Bunke has joined as sales director, North American sales, West division. Bunke, who has 37 years of industry experience, previously held sales roles with Beechcraft and Bombardier Aerospace.
FlightSafety International promoted Jeff Rose to manager of the company’s learning center in Atlanta. Rose joined FlightSafety in 2001 and has served the company as an instructor for the Cessna Citation 500 series in Toledo, program manager of Citation Ultra aircraft training, program manager of Hawker 400XP training, director of standards, director of training and, most recently, assistant manager of the Savannah, Ga. center.
Aspen Avionics named Robert Blaha director of business development, which will include Aspen’s newly acquired NexNav GPS product line. Blaha has served with Aspen since 2007, previously as regional sales manager and director of international sales.
Flying Colours appointed Clint Bloom sales manager-interiors. Bloom previously spent 16 years with Bombardier, working with Challenger and Global refurbishment and green completion projects.
Ralph Crosby joined Airbus Helicopters as executive director of corporate and VIP sales. Previously Crosby was vice president of sales for Dallas Jet International and before that was a sales director for Hawker Beechcraft.
Jet Quest appointed David Bailey as its South Central U.S. sales representative. A former U.S. Army Apache commander, Bailey previously led a medical equipment sales team.
Greenpoint Aerospace added Ron Worley as regional sales manager. Worley brings more than 30 years of experience to his new role, having previously held sales positions at Sagem, Dallas Airmotive, Rockwell Collins, Honeywell and Gulfstream.
HeliOffshore, a global association focused on the safety of the offshore helicopter industry, appointed Francois Lassale operations director. Most recently Lassale was managing director for the aviation services firm Vortex and before that was director of safety and strategic development for the UAE Presidential Flight.
Banyan Air Service appointed Arlisa Jernigan as director of people relations. Jernigan has 28 years of human relations management experience, most recently as director of human resources for Coventry Health Care.
Banyan Air Service appointed Andy Joran as a sales manager for HondaJet Southeast. Joran has more than 25 years of aviation experience, previously holding roles as a regional sales director at Flexjet and sales director at Cessna Finance.
Matt Olafsen has joined Johnsonville Sausage’s flight department as a captain. Previously he had served as the presidential pilot of New Guinea, Africa, and as a captain for ExpressJet Airlines.
John Walker joined Stevens Aviation as North Central regional sales manager, based in Dayton, Ohio. Walker has more than 25 years of sales and management experience, previously serving with Jet Quest, GNC and Quaker State.
Executive AirShare named John Igrec senior sales director in the Great Lakes region. Igrec has nearly 20 years of business aviation experience, and was previously regional sales director for Flexjet.
West Star Aviation appointed Veta Traxler as paint and interior designer. Traxler has more than five years of interior design experience, previously serving as paint and interior sales manager at Elliott Aviation.
Mark Abbott has joined Vertis Aviation Africa as a partner. Abbott has 17 years of business aviation experience, most recently serving as group FBO director for ExecuJet in Cape Town.
Global Jet Services named Gabe Valeich an aviation maintenance instructor. Valeich brings 25 years of business aviation experience to his new role, including a background in Hawkers, Citations, Bombardiers and Gulfstreams.
Susan Johnson has joined PlaneTechs as client services manager. Johnson previously has held aircraft scheduling, business development and outside sales roles in aviation.
Erickson named Jason Johnson senior director of sales for the company’s manufacturing and MRO business and Scott Cook as senior director of business development for the Americas Region. Johnson was most recently executive director of sales and customer support for Bell Helicopter. Cook, who spent 20 years with Siemens and General Electric, was most recently a senior consultant for Qittitut Consulting.
Awards & Honors
NBAA has named longtime flight department leader and former NBAA chairman Jeff Lee as 2015 recipient of the John H. Winant Award. To be presented during the association’s annual convention this month in Las Vegas, the Winant Award recognizes former NBAA directors whose service to business aviation continues well beyond their tenure on the board. Lee has served as vice president of flight operations at American Express since 2011, and before that spent more than 30 years with IBM as director of flight operations. He served on the NBAA board from 2001 to 2013, including one term as chairman beginning in 2008. In addition, Lee has spent a number of years as president of the Westchester Aviation Association in New York. There he developed an Aviation Career Fair to attract interest in the industry among students. The first career day drew 2,000 students and NBAA said the “event became a model for all other aviation associations across the country.” More than 8,000 students have attended the now-annual event. Lee is also credited with spearheading a series of safety events in the New York area.
Final Flight
Donald Holbert, chairman of Central Flying Service and member of the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame, died September 27 in Little Rock. He was 75. Holbert spent more than 60 years serving with the business his father, Claud Holbert, founded in 1939. His work at Central Flying Service began at the age of 15 as a line service tech fueling aircraft. He later became a charter pilot, ultimately holding an airline transport pilot certificate.
A graduate of Wentworth Military Academy in 1957 and Ouachita Baptist University, Holbert served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and platoon leader in Vietnam. Upon returning to the U.S. he rejoined Central Flying Service in 1968. He became vice president of operations and later president, before stepping in as chairman in 1981 when his father retired. He also served as president of airline fueling business Airports Services.
A founding member of the board of the Arkansas Aviation Historical Society, Holbert was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006. The National Air Transportation Association lauded Holbert for his focus on safety, including being an early adopter of the Safety 1st Program. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Don Holbert,” said NATA president and CEO Thomas Hendricks. “Don was a distinguished veteran aviator and a pioneer for general aviation in Arkansas. Our industry has lost a person of great integrity and talent.”
