Story ID: 3012913alerts
Avantair Rebounds, Hires New COO
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: 
Word Count: 220
Clearwater, Fla.-based Piaggio Avanti fractional operator Avantair says that its flight and maintenance operations have fully recovered from a three-week voluntary standdown that ended in November. Further, it has closed a second round of funding since the grounding and hired a new COO.

According to Avantair CEO Steve Santo, all of the company’s approximately 60 Piaggio Avanti I and II turboprops are now back in service and its maintenance facility has ramped up to full capacity.

The latest round of funding injects another $2 million into the company on top of $2.8 million of new funding announced last month. Santo said this latest round is exclusively from Avantair fractional owners, “showing the trust that they place in us.”

Meanwhile, the company hired David Haslett, described as a veteran finance and customer service executive, as its new COO on Friday. In his new role, Haslett will be responsible for day-to-day performance of the fractional firm, focusing on customer service and satisfaction. He will also watch over key financial and performance metrics and seek to make the company more efficient.

“His arrival is part of our ongoing effort to position Avantair for the future and complements the recent positive organizational changes we made in the safety, compliance and flight operations departments,” Santo said.