JSSI has elevated Fabrice Roger to executive v-p of business development for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Roger joined the U.S.-based maintenance management provider in 2022 following a nearly decade-long stint with aircraft broker Jetcraft, where he managed more than $1 billion in aircraft transactions across Latin America, Europe, and North Africa. Before that, he worked in the finance industry.
In his new role, Roger–who is based in Dubai–will oversee JSSI’s segments outside of the Americas. “I cover Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and APAC, so being in Dubai is very strategic,” Roger told AIN. “The region is booming in terms of business aviation, and it's very good for me to be in the middle of my three regions.”
In Dubai, the company has an office with six staffers and is due to relocate from Dubai International Airport to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South. “All general aviation is moving to the south, so we want to be closer to our customers and the MROs,” said Roger.
The company noted that traffic in the region has increased by more than 50% over the past five years. “Plenty of our aircraft now are getting maintained in the Middle East through the different MROs,” Roger explained. “The key is that we provide this flexibility of going anywhere the customer thinks is most efficient. Not always having to fly to the U.S., if there is the possibility to do the maintenance locally, sometimes it's better, especially with the tariffs and things that happen.”
EMEA and APAC currently account for approximately 35% of JSSI’s business, and Roger would like to move that needle to 50%. “I think we are growing faster outside of the U.S. than we do in the U.S.,” he noted. “There are some places where we are less known, and we still meet customers that don’t really know what JSSI does, especially with the line of products that we’ve added. We also have maintenance tracking software, parts, and we now do aircraft financing, so we have a lot of work in educating customers and making them understand there is an alternative to the OEMs.”
While some may have expressed disappointment with the smaller size of this year’s EBACE, Roger still feels it is a valid gathering. “We were able to meet with most of our customers, and we had great traction with our event,” he said. “We think Europe is still a market with a lot of potential.” To serve that market, the company has an office at the UK’s Farnborough Airport and a newly opened parts warehouse in Frankfurt. Its regional team extends across the region to France, Monaco, Spain, Luxembourg, Austria, and Turkey.