Story ID: 003 September
People in Aviation
By: Kait Wilson
Caption: A look at recent changes in leadership roles and job titles across the industry as well as those recognized with awards and honors.
Word Count: 1560
Rolls-Royce appointed Tufan Erginbilgic as CEO and executive director of Rolls-Royce Holdings. Erginbilgic will succeed Warren East in the role on Jan.1, 2023. Erginbilgic, who has a background in engineering, serve with BP for more than 20 years and has also held several non-executive directorships in heavy industry and manufacturing companies, including at GKN.

FlyExclusive has realigned its executive team. Company’s founder Jim Segrave will continue to serve as chairman while also serving as CEO, Mike Guina will assume the role of chief strategy officer, and Tommy Sowers will continue to serve as president while also taking on the role of COO.

Sören Stark assumed the role of chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Technik succeeding Johannes Bussmann. Harald Gloy will assume the role previously held by Stark as the company's COO and will also serve as chief human resources officer and labor director. Stark joined the company in 2004 as managing director of Lufthansa Technik Logistik. Gloy was most recently labor director and a member of the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo.

The American Society of Appraisers elected Richard Berkemeier, senior appraiser at Pegasus Aircraft Appraisal Group, to serve the organization as international president for a one-year term. Berkemeier has held various leadership positions within the organization including on the board of examiners, as international v-p of the board of governors, as well as past chair of the international education committee, budget and finance committee, and machinery and technical specialties discipline committee. 

Gulfstream Aerospace appointed Oliver Bergsch as regional v-p of sales for Central and Eastern Europe and Jim Beckstein as regional v-p of sales for Southern California and Arizona. Bergsch has more than 25 years of experience in aviation with the last 15 years at Gulfstream’s sister company, Beckstein joins Gulfstream with nearly 40 years of aviation experience, with the last 25 years focused on business aviation and sales. 

Bruno Bellanger has been appointed by Safran Electrical & Power as executive v-p and general manager of the Power division and Cécile Dubrovin has been appointed as president of Safran Engineering Services. Both will serve as members of Safran Electrical & Power’s Executive Committee. After previously holding roles at Airbus and Scalian, Bellanger joined Safran in 2004 and has held leadership positions throughout the company’s various divisions. Dubrovin joined Safran in 2013 from Thales Avionics and has served as executive v-p and general manager of the “On-Board and Testing” business unit of Safran Data Systems.

Wheels Up hired Todd Smith as CFO and Rob Cords as executive vice president of fleet operations & infrastructure. Smith has more than 25 years of experience, having most recently held the role of global head of financial planning and analysis and CFO for GE. Cords has over 20 years of experience in aviation, having previously held the position of president at MRO holdings and before that was president of airlines and fleets at StandardAero. 

Matthew DeLellis has been appointed by West Star Aviation to the role of CFO. DeLellis has more than 20 years of finance and operational experience, including more than 12 years in the aviation sector. The company also promoted Judy Parker to the position of material control supervisor at their Perryville, MO location and Randall Bass to satellite manager of their Conroe, TX (KCXO) facility. Parker has over 34 years of aviation experience with 26 years in material controls, joining West Star in 2018 after previously working at Sabreliner. Bass, a US Navy Veteran and licensed pilot, has over 48 years of aviation experience at a variety of levels. Bass joined West Star in 2017 and has served since as a technician at their KCXO location.

Robert Sincennes has been named v-p of regulatory affairs by the Canadian Business Aviation Association. Sincennes joined Transport Canada in 1985 as an airworthiness engineer and has since occupied various positions including chief of regulatory affairs, where he formed the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council.

Angela Martens was appointed by SkyTrac Systems v-p of finance and administration. Martens has more than 15 years of experience in providing financial services and leadership to a diverse set of industries, most prominently oil and gas.

Anastasija Visnakova was hired by Deutsche Aircraft as v-p of sales and marketing. Visnakova has over 15 years of aviation experience having held various executive positions with Air Baltic, Primera Air, and DeHavilland Aircraft of Canada, focusing on sales, marketing, market development, and business development. 

Bii appointed Andrew Newell as general manager after previously holding the role of the company sales director for the past two years. Newell has experience in consignment stock management and commercial aircraft interiors.

Peter Mankelow was named managing director of Aerocare Aviation Services following the company’s recent acquisition by Complete Aircraft Group. Mankelow joins the company with a background in leading MRO services in civil and military aviation sectors.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) appointed David Dunning as director of global innovation and policy, and promoted Joe Sambiase to managing director of airworthiness and regulatory affairs. Dunning joins GAMA after having served as advanced air mobility program manager at the FAA. He has more than 19 years of experience in military, civil, and government aviation operations. Sambiase joined GAMA in 2010 and will oversee a broader range of technical domains within certification, production, and maintenance of general aviation products.

​​Women in Aviation International appointed four new team members: Jabili Kandula joined as associate editor, Annie Stikeleather was hired as manager of youth programs, Trish Steineke was appointed as conference and events coordinator, and Jessi Rowden is manager of chapter relations.

Jana Filip has been hired by the Aerospace Center for Excellence and Sun‘n'Fun Aerospace Expo as business development manager. Filip has two decades of experience in aviation events planning and previously served on the planning committee for the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, directed the Sebring Expo for six years, and later founded the DeLand Showcase. ​

The Malibu M-Class Owners & Pilots Association (MMOPA) appointed Jenna Reid as executive director succeeding Dianne White. Reid has over a decade in aviation advertising, marketing, sales, and supporting trade shows. She most recently served as the organization’s advertising director of MMOPA Magazine and before that, was a copy editor with the Aircraft Electronics Association. 

Trish Lorino was hired by flyExclusive as v-p of marketing and communications. Lorino has 25 years of experience in the travel, hospitality, and adjacent industries with the past 10 years in marketing and communications for Cape Air. 

Mark Cook was promoted by Alto Aviation to director of business development and Dave Gustafson to director of operations. The company also hired Brandon Klisit as senior technical sales manager. Cook has served as OEM business development manager since 2020, and Gustafson previously held the role of operations and quality manager for the past four years. Klisit’s previous experience includes being an avionics sales manager with StandardAero, where he worked since 1999.

 JetHQ appointed Kyle Evans as its in-house general counsel. Additionally, Josh Tremain will become v-p of contracts and business development succeeding Nicola Pike, who is retiring after over 30 years in business aviation. Evans joins JetHQ after more than a decade of legal experience at Oklahoma City law firms. Tremain previously served as manager of contracts and business development and will work alongside Evans to manage relationships with title companies, aviation attorneys, and other buyers and sellers.
Awards and Honors
CAE president and CEO Marc Parent was named a Knight of the distinguished Ordre national du Québec recognizing his contributions to Québec's economy and growth. Under his leadership, CAE employees designed and created the CAE Air1 critical care respirator. Parent was also recently inducted into Québec's Air and Space Hall of Fame.

Martha King, owner and co-chairman of King Schools, was awarded the FAA FAASTeam's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award recognizing her more than 50 years as a certificated pilot and contributions to aviation. During a ceremony held at EAA Airventure, Aviation Safety Airworthiness FAASTeam Program Manager Ken Kelley said that the Kings “might be the only or certainly one of just a few couples to be awarded the Master Pilot designation.” John King received the award in 2014.

Leonard Michael Greene, inventor of the aircraft stall warning device,  was to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in honor of National Aviation Day on Aug. 19. The stall-warning device Greene invented was the first of more than 100 patents, 60 of which cover aviation technology.

Daher Aerospace this year resumed its internship program in partnership with EAA to provide an all-inclusive scholarship internship to Lauren Meyer and Anthony Garza. Both worked for five weeks in June and July at Daher’s Tarbes, France facility. Upon their return to the U.S. they participated with the Daher team at EAA AirVenture. 
, full_html