Jean-François Georges, who retired from Dassault Aviation in 2003, passed away on May 11. “He was the stitching that knitted [Falcon] operators and Dassault employees into a special family,” wrote Jean Kayanakis, senior v-p of worldwide Falcon customer service and service center network, in a tribute to Georges.
A graduate of France’s Supaero aerospace engineering school, Georges worked his entire career at Dassault, starting as a flight test engineer on the Falcon 20 in 1966. He was the architect of the first head-up display installation in an airliner while designing the flight deck in the Mercure, which became certified for Category III all-weather landings. Georges also worked on Europe’s Hermes spaceplane program.
After Georges became responsible for Dassault’s civil aviation activities in 1992, his commitment to serving customers took on new importance. “After many successful years laser-focused on technological advances, he fully embraced the new complexities of understanding customer perspectives,” Kayanakis wrote. “Always a great team leader; his love of others shone through in a new way.”
Two key changes that Georges embraced included renaming the U.S. division as Dassault Falcon Jet “in part, to emphasize the unity of the trans-Atlantic organization,” according to Kayanakis. “He also rebranded ‘after-sales service’ as ‘customer service.’ With the change, ‘the word “service” took on its noble meaning,’” he wrote.
Georges worked closely with Dassault Falcon Jet president and CEO John Rosanvallon, who was also deputy director of civil aviation, Pete Ginocchio, and Claude Frey. “The new leadership team started listening more attentively to customer concerns through organized customer seminars, today’s M&Os,” Kayanakis wrote. “While Falcons had always been admired in the U.S. for their technology and performance, the U.S. market, in particular, began to recognize a new dedication to supporting the product.”
There was much more to admire about Georges, Kayanakis explained, including his musical skills as a saxophonist who led a 16-piece swing band earlier in his career and later led full orchestras. “His admiration for both American and French artists like Duke Ellington, Debussy, Ravel, and Fauré was reflected in his aviation career. In business, he took inspiration from rugby for its teamwork and the seamless hand-offs that are key to success.”
Georges was also a pilot who liked to land on snow-covered glaciers in a Robin DR 400 piston single so he could take photographs of the Alps. He wrote three books, including one titled "Blues in the Clouds," and earned his seaplane rating in Canada. In the book, he wrote: “My life was organized between these three demanding mistresses: aviation, the mountains, and music.”
“He wove those into a beautiful composition,” Kayanakis wrote. “When thinking about Jean-François, I’m reminded how rich life is when we pursue our passions.”