Story ID: 003
People In Aviation
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Jet Linx, Eve, and Women in Aviation all have CEO changes.
Word Count: 1399
Brent Wouters is joining Jet Linx as CEO as Jamie Walker moves over to chairman, focusing on the company’s overall strategic vision, mergers and acquisitions opportunities, and industry and client relations. Wouters, who takes his new role on July 31, has 32 years of professional experience including as president and CEO of Iron Valley Supply and of Cirrus Aircraft.
Johann Bordais, president and CEO of Embraer Services & Support, is taking the helm of Eve Air Mobility as CEO, effective September 1. Bordais joined Embraer in 2000 and is credited with turning its services business into a global, rapidly growing, and most profitable unit—last year services accounted for $1.27 billion, or 28 percent of total company revenue.
Women in Aviation International appointed Stephanie Kenyon as interim CEO following the departure of former CEO Allison McKay. Kenyon has more than two decades of leadership experience in the aviation industry having previously served as v-p of the AOPA foundation. She has served as WAI’s chief growth officer since 2021, where she led the strategic direction and financial growth of the organization.
Flydocs hired Savas Toplama to assume the role of CCO following the transition of John Bowell to senior v-p of engineering services. Toplama has more than 17 years of experience in aviation and professional services having previously held various positions with Lufthansa Aviation Group and most recently as a manager with Deloitte Consulting. Additionally, the company hired Naveen Mangle as chief digital and technology officer. Mangle has more than two decades of experience in information technology and most recently served as chief technology officer with Fusion Microfinance.
Scott Fuller will retire as airport director of Gulf Shores International Airport (KJKA) on November 1. He will then transition to executive emeritus with the airport authority until the completion of an ongoing expansion project. Fuller has spent more than 40 years in airport management roles.
Air bp appointed Federica Berra senior v-p. Berra joined bp in June 2020 as senior v-p of integrated gas and power in its gas and low-carbon energy business and previously, she was v-p of acquisitions for Latin America with ExxonMobil.
Comair Flight Services (CFS) promoted Kerry Searle from client services director to managing director where she will guide the daily operations of the company. CFS co-founder and former CEO Justin Reeves has also been elevated to the role of Group CEO.
Airshare hired Rob Black and Harvey Murphy as vice presidents of sales. Black was a founding employee at Jet It and most recently served as director of sales. Murphy, who will head the company’s Northeast market, has more than a decade of experience in private aircraft sales at VistaJet, Victor, Blade, and, most recently, FXAir.
Ontic appointed Kairat Asenei as v-p of revenue management. Asenei joins Ontic with experience in revenue management execution and business strategy design following a seven-year tenure with global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company where he most recently held the position of associate partner.
Blueberry Aviation appointed Sofiane Cherchali as v-p of contracts. Cherchali, a qualified solicitor in England and a qualified lawyer in France and Spain has previously held positions with Stephenson Harwood law firm, Proparco, Bpifrance, and for French independent solar energy developer and producer TSE.
The Air Charter Safety Foundation hired Alexander Evans as assistant director of safety and Andrew Ha as programs administrator. Evans, previously worked at Flightline Aircraft Services, where he oversaw ground operations and ground security for NFL team charters. Ha holds a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating and interned at Allegiant Airlines.
Elite Jets promoted former director of operations Matt Simpson to chief pilot, succeeding Paul Scott, who will continue as a pilot for the company. Simpson, who captains the Phenom and Legacy, has logged nearly 20,000 flight hours. Rodney Beeler, who served as assistant director of operations, will assume the role previously held by Simpson. Beeler is a military veteran and holds an ATP rating and has logged more than 8,000 flight hours.
ACI Jet MRO promoted Jonathan Carlyle to repair station manager and appointed Michael Johnson and Joe Borchers as project managers. Carlyle has prior experience at Textron and Bombardier facilities in various maintenance roles. Johnson has nearly two decades of experience at a Textron Aviation service center as an aircraft technician and team lead. Borchers joined ACI Jet in 2018 as an A&P and most recently served as a lead technician.
Awards and Honors
The Florida Department of Transportation named Chris Rozansky—executive director of Naples Airport Authority (NAA)—as its 2023 Aviation Professional of the Year. The award recognizes Rozansky for his “involvement in Florida aviation during the previous year and his continuing commitment and significant achievements in the industry.” He has served as the NAA executive director for seven years.
Mike Atwood—founder and CEO of Aviation Specialties Unlimited (ASU)—was honored by the Airborne Public Safety Association for his “longstanding and continuing dedication to airborne law enforcement safety.”. Atwood founded ASU in 1995 with the goal of bringing night vision goggles (NVGs) to the civilian emergency medical services market. In 1999, the FAA authorized NVGs for EMS personnel use. Since then, ASU has supplied more than 5,000 NVGs to EMS operations worldwide.
Final Flight
Chauncey Frank Webb, a long-time corporate pilot and former naval aviator, died July 21 at the age of 76. Webb had a career spanning more than five decades flying helicopters and ultimately fixed-wing aircraft for the U.S. Navy and later corporate flight departments and aircraft owners.
Born Oct. 22, 1946, in Bay City, Texas, Webb became interested in aviation in his youth and would get scolded because he became distracted and stared out his school windows to watch airplanes take off from a nearby airport. He hung out at the airport and asked to wash airplanes for rides. His interest further heightened after his older brother, Randol Webb, Jr., enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and flew A-1 Skyraiders in the early years of the Vietnam War.
After graduating from Bay City High School in 1965 and Sam Houston State in 1969, Webb attended Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, to pursue his passion for flying.
He earned his wings and reported in October 1971 to the all-volunteer Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 7 (HC-7), known as Sea Devils, at NAS Imperial Beach, California. The unit was dedicated to combat search and rescue and included missions over land and in the waters of North Vietnam. In that unit, he flew Sikorsky HH-3 helicopters from naval vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin and became helicopter aircraft commander. HC-7 was one of the most highly decorated naval squadrons in the Vietnam era.
He later trained pilot candidates, joined an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) unit flying the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King as an aircraft commander, and served on the USS America.
In 1979, he retired from active duty and turned to civil aviation, with jobs that ranged from aircraft sales and charter work in Northern California to training in the Sikorsky S-76. He flew an S-76 in Costa del Sol, Spain for a wealthy sheik but returned to Northern California to fly a Bell 222 for Warner Communications (Atari Division). Warner transferred him to the East Coast to fly company executives in the Sikorsky S-76.
Webb ultimately joined American Express, where he would spend his next 20 years flying its S-76 and later the Gulfstream IV and V.
While a professional pilot, Webb had an affinity for general aviation, flying a multitude of aircraft from Piper Cubs to the gamut of Cessna single-engine models, in addition to floatplanes, warbirds, Stearmans, and Wacos. A former Navy buddy characterized Webb’s passion: “If a brick had wings, Chauncey could fly it.”
Leaving American Express in 2003, he continued in the industry at an aircraft management company and flew a Falcon 900 for the principal of a real estate investment company for the remainder of his years.
Webb is survived by his wife of 44 years, Jane, who is a former AIN employee, as well as his daughter, Genny Drash, son-in-law, Wayne Drash, and grandchildren, Emma and Billy Drash.
Those wishing to honor Webb can donate to the EAA Aviation Foundation. A celebration of life is planned for early October.