People in Aviation: August 2020

Martin Thomsen was named CEO of Air bp. He is stepping in for Jon Platt, who has steered the business since 2016 but is retiring from the company later this year. Thomsen has served in a number of roles with bp over the last 15 years, most recently as retail director and fuels country integrator for Austria, Switzerland, and Turkey.‎

Duncan Aviation announced several senior leadership changes. Previously Duncan’s COO in Lincoln, Nebraska, Jeff Lake assumes the role of president from Aaron Hilkemann, who is now serving as part-time CEO and chairman of Duncan’s board of advisors. Assuming Lake’s COO role in Lincoln is Mike Minchow, who has been with Duncan since 1993. At Duncan’s facility in Provo, Utah, executive v-p and COO Bill Prochazka has retired after 33 years with the company. Chad Doehring, a 26-year veteran of Duncan, has assumed Prochazka’s COO post in Provo. Lastly, Ryan Huss fills the newly created role of director of sales. Huss started at Duncan 19 years ago as an airframe technician.

Elite Jets Charters promoted two of its pilots to senior positions. Mark London, previously general manager, and Stephen Myers, formerly assistant chief pilot, have been promoted to president and executive v-p, respectively. London assumes a role previously held by founder Dan Randolph, who remains CEO.

The Massachusetts Business Aviation Association added Pam Day and Tom Richardson as board members. Day is the director and general manager of FBO Services at Jet Aviation in Bedford and has more than 30 years of aviation experience, including with Page Avjet/Signature Flight Support, SheltAir Aviation Services, Million Air, Piedmont Airlines, and LaGuardia Airport. Richardson is an associate attorney at Greenberg Traurig, representing owners, family offices, operators, manufacturers, lenders, and financial institutions in the purchase, sale, leasing, financing, operation of business aircraft.

Vertical Aerospace appointed Tim Williams chief engineer, responsible for the development of the company’s new eVTOL. Williams formerly was a chief engineer at Rolls-Royce and brings 34 years of aerospace experience to the new role.

OmnAvia Interiors named Praveen Srivastavad director of global business development. Srivastava has a long background in commercial and corporate aircraft interior completions, installations, and repairs, and will remain CEO of the aviation maintenance and services firm he founded, AeroChamp Aviation, in India.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) in Minneapolis-St. Paul hired Tim Simon to serve as v-p of finance and revenue development. Simon, who has 20 years of experience in finance and auditing roles for governmental organizations, previously was the chief financial officer for the city of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Lufthansa Technik appointed new management within seven departments: Alexander Feuersaenger is responsible for the Fleet Services product division in Frankfurt; Stephan Drewes is responsible for the IT Domain MRO department as well as the Information Management Lufthansa Technik Group; Philip Mende is head of the Digital Fleet Solutions product division; Michael Kirstein is leading Engines Parts Repair and Mobile Engine Services; Tim Butzmann is the head of Corporate Sales, Africa and the Middle East; Andreas Drosdowski was selected as head of Maintenance for Europe as well as CEO of Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International; and Michael von Puttkamer was selected as head of operations of the VIP & Special Mission Aircraft Services division. 

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) appointed Chuck Couch regional head of aviation programs and product development in North America. Previously aviation workers’ compensation product lead for AGCS in the U.S., Couch has 20 years of insurance industry experience.

 The Asian Business Aviation Association appointed Anthony Lam as director of marketing and external affairs. Lam assumes responsibilities formerly handled by an external agency. Lam previously served as editor of the Asian business aviation magazine JET Asia-Pacific and is a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board’s aviation accident investigative team.

Paul Hathaway joined the Columbia group of aviation companies as director of marketing. Hathaway, who will help expand Columbia’s Daher TBM sales program, has held marketing roles at Tamarack Aerospace Group, Avidyne, Honeywell Aerospace, and WSI.

Soljets added Anthony “Tony” Kunde to its sales team as executive sales director. Kunde most recently was regional sales director for Textron Aviation with responsibility for the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S., but also has been involved in sales in Europe and Asia.

Duncan Aviation named Mark White Gulfstream sales representative at its service facility in Provo, Utah. White, who has more than 20 years of Gulfstream sales experience, has sold both parts and maintenance/service.

Summit Aviation has hired Frank Reuter as director of maintenance. Reuter, a retired master sergeant with the U.S. Army, most recently served was v-p of maintenance and engineering and director of maintenance for AAR Lift in Palm Bay, Florida, and also has served with Black Water Aviation and Presidential Airways.

Dave Amdor joined the Lee County Port Authority (LCPA) as the director of finance. Amdor brings 12 years of public and private accounting and finance experience to his new role, previously serving as the finance manager for the Omaha Airport Authority, responsible for operating Eppley Field (OMA) in Nebraska.

Priester Aviation added four new members to its sales team: Toby Batchelder, Greg Cummings, Deborah Maestas, and G. Scott Shatzer. Batchelder brings nearly two decades of aviation experience to Priester, previously heading sales and marketing for Jet Choice and also working with Elliott Aviation. Cummings has previously served as an executive at Bombardier, FlexJet, and most recently v-p of sales for Fractrade. Maestas has nearly 25 years of aviation experience, including serving as COO for CSI Aviation. Shatzer has more than 30 years of aviation experience, including with Flexjet, American Airlines, USAirways, and Bombardier

Biralhas appointed Amy Sear marketing and communications officer. Sear is joining the meteorological equipment specialist after spending almost nine years in the charity sector with the Meningitis Research Foundation and Shaw Trust.

Universal Avionics (UA) named John Berizzi and John Wasmund regional sales managers for the South-Central and Southwest U.S., respectively. Based in Duluth, Georgia, Berizzi has previously held positions at Stevens Aviation, National Flight Services, and Boca Aircraft Maintenance. Wasmund, who is based in Phoenix, has more than 20 years of avionics experience, including with Hawker Beechcraft and Constant Aviation.

Final Flights

Harland Terrell "Terry" Hibler, 70, a long-time FlightSafety International executive and former corporate pilot, died on May 3 after suffering from the effects of a stroke.

Hibler spent 28 years with FlightSafety, serving as its director of worldwide airline marketing in the company’s Teterboro, New Jersey, office. He became deeply involved in the regional airline market, including serving on the Associate Member Council of the Regional Airline Association and as long-time chairman of the Associate Member Council for the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA). A Facebook posting credited Hibler for “helping to build RACCA to what it is today.” Through his work with numerous carriers, Hibler helped with the transition from piston and turboprop commuters into the regional jet era.

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Hibler served as a C130 loadmaster in Vietnam. He also was a corporate pilot during most of his career and held 16 type ratings.

He is survived by his wife Karen, daughter Amy, and son-in-law Justin.

Tom Casey, who faced extraordinary obstacles but eventually succeeded in flying around the world in a single-engine seaplane in 1990, died on March 29. He was 82 years old.

Casey flew the trip by himself, and it was the first of its kind with landings all done on water in a Cessna 206 on Wipaire floats. Casey first attempted to fly the trip westbound from Lake Washington in Seattle, but Russia denied him entry and he decided to turn around and complete the trip flying to the east.

Beset by myriad challenges, the trip took 188 days, 128 more than the originally planned. A long delay resulted when Casey needed major back surgery while in Saudi Arabia, during the Gulf War in Kuwait. Despite being warned about a suspect oil sample before flying to Alaska, Casey pressed on and made a harrowing landing after a catastrophic engine failure, then cooled his heels waiting for a new engine to arrive and be installed.

The book Floatplane Odyssey, written by Casey’s long-time friend Bill Coleman, details how he survived typhoons, house arrest, and an unauthorized sneaky flight through Japan, and occasionally had to bribe aviation ministers to look the other way.

On Dec. 18, 1990, Casey arrived back at Lake Washington. The National Aeronautic Association never recognized Casey’s journey.

Casey was a graduate of Temple University and served in the U.S. Navy.