Story ID: 003
People in Aviation
By: James Careless
Caption: Lider has new CEO, the Alliance for Aviation Across America head Selena Shilad flies west
Word Count: 1442
Líder Aviation’s COO, Junia Hermont, is moving up to CEO this month, taking over from Eduardo Vaz who—after 25 years—will move into the chairman’s role. At the same time, Bruna Assumpção will become superintendent of business aviation. Vaz began as a trainee in 1968, and Hermont started as a manager in 1998.
Peter Turner has been named the new chairman of trustees for The Helicopter Museum. He has been a trustee of the museum since 1996 and was previously the vice-chairman.
KinectAir has appointed retired U.S. Air Force Col. Katie Buss and technology entrepreneur Ben Howard as its co-CEOs. Previously, Buss served as KinectAir’s COO and Howard as its co-founder and chief technology officer.
Geoff Heck has been appointed president and COO of SAR Trilogy Management, the holding company of the Aero Centers portfolio of FBOs. He was previously senior v-p of global operations for Signature Flight Support.
Heider Lazzarini has joined Lightspeed Aviation as president. Lazzarini was formerly v-p of marketing at Axiometrix Solutions.
Atlantic Aviation has appointed John Redcay as chief commercial and sustainability officer. He was previously JSX’s chief commercial officer.
Bluetail has named Kent Pickard as its new chief technology officer. Before joining Bluetail, Pickard was v-p of products for Veryon (formerly ATP).
Roger Hohl has been appointed as COO with AeroVisto Group. He comes from ACM Aerospace, where he has been managing director for the past seven years.
Omni Helicopters International (OHI) has hired Paulo Couto as chief transformation officer. He has more than 25 years of experience in business transformation and strategic leadership in a broad range of industries.
Volato has appointed Mark Heinen as their chief financial officer. Before joining Volato, he served as the CFO of Better Therapeutics.
Bell Textron has appointed Jacinto Monge as its managing director of commercial business in Europe. Previously, Jacinto served as the managing director for Bell Asia-Pacific and as the representative director for Bell in Japan.
Vimana Private Jets has appointed Marcus Manning as managing director. He is the founder and managing director of MVEE Limited.
Gulfstream Aerospace has chosen John Kenan as its senior v-p of manufacturing and completions, effective March 2024. Most recently, Kenan served as v-p of completions across all Gulfstream sites. Gulfstream also promoted Michael Swift to be group v-p president of sales overseeing Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), and the Asia-Pacific region (APAC). He was formerly division v-p of international sales for EMEA and the Indian subcontinent.
Gulfstream Aerospace further promoted Sasha Cejic, Robert Medina, and April Morina each to regional v-ps of service center operations. Previously, Cejic was engineering group head of advanced aircraft programs; Medina was general manager of Savannah and Brunswick service center operations and customer support; and Morina was director of services for Palm Springs. Gulfstream Customer Support has named Scott Larner general manager of Gulfstream’s Westfield service center. He was previously director of human resources business partners at Gulfstream Aerospace.
Professional Aircraft Accessories has promoted Keith Johnson to the role of vice president/general manager. Johnson is stepping up from his position as the company’s director of materials and production control.
Summit Aviation has appointed Tom Lark as v-p and general manager. He formerly held the same roles for the cables division at Sanmina.
Embraer Defense & Security has chosen José Gustavo as v-p of sales and business development for Europe and Africa. He was previously international sales director for these regions.
Steve Varsano has been appointed to the board of trustees at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is founder and CEO of The Jet Business. Further, Marie-Louise Philippe has been selected to be Embraer Commercial Aviation’s v-p of sales and marketing, and head of region for Europe and Central Asia. She was previously Airbus’ senior sales director based in Singapore.
West Star Aviation has promoted Ricky Myers to technical sales manager for Falcon at its East Alton, Illinois facility. He was formerly an aircraft technician at the company. West Star Aviation also promoted Rich Baertschi to Gulfstream Aircraft maintenance team lead at their Chattanooga, Tennessee facility. He was previously an aviation maintenance tech 3.
Meghan Knott has joined Duncan Aviation's aircraft sales and acquisitions team as a market research analyst. She was formerly a maintenance technical analyst with Wheels Up.
Texas Aerospace Technologies has appointed Scott Roth as its regional sales manager for Western U.S. and Canada. He was previously sales manager at SOMACIS.
C&L Aviation Services has hired Jennifer Kempsey as their regional sales manager of corporate MRO for the northeastern U.S. She was previously in northeast regional sales-jet support for Avmats.
Aero Asset has appointed Ed Sale as senior sales director. Prior to joining Aero Asset, he was director of HeliGroup, specializing in helicopter procurement and commercial operations.
Awards and Honors                                       
The Wichita Aero Club (WAC) has selected Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) as the recipient of the 2023 Wichita Aero Club Trophy, to be awarded at its gala on Feb. 3, 2024. The Wichita Aero Club Trophy was created to recognize both contemporaneous accomplishment and a lifetime of achievement.
The Air Charter Association (ACA) has announced the winners of its 2023 Excellence Awards. The group recognized companies for their contributions to nine aspects of the industry during a recent event held in Brighton—on the south coast of England—which was attended by 500 people. The winners were as follows: Platoon Aviation (executive passenger charter operator); Loganair (commercial passenger charter operator); Atlas Air (cargo charter operator); Saxon Air (helicopter charter operator); Farnborough Airport (handling agent or FBO); Embraer (aircraft manufacturer); Air Partner (charter operators’ broker of the year); Charlie Woodward/RVL Aviation (ACA NextGen young person of the year); and Loganair (Sir Michael Marshall award for sustainability in aviation).
Final Flight
The general aviation community lost a “fierce advocate” with the November 24 passing of Selena Shilad, the executive director of the Alliance for Aviation Across America (AAAA). Shilad, who was 45, died after a brief illness.
She joined the Alliance after it was formed in 2007 and was promoted to executive director within a year.
“Selena was one of the most committed, passionate, resourceful, and effective coalition builders and aviation advocates imaginable,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, who serves as chair of the Alliance. “Every single day, she engaged with community leaders, organizations, and individuals from across the country to powerfully communicate the central role of general aviation in America.”
During her tenure with the nonprofit advocacy organization, she elevated the focus on the economic role that the general aviation community had on a local, regional, and national level. She brought together a wide range of groups—from the League of Rural Voters to the National Grange and Restaurant Equipment World—to advocate for the industry.
She is credited with helping to facilitate numerous state and local proclamations on the benefits of general aviation, along with local and regional news stories and economic impact surveys in nearly all 50 states.
Before joining AAAA, Shilad coordinated high-profile initiatives for corporate and nonprofit clients across a range of industries and served as a legislative advisor in state and national campaigns, including in Arizona and Texas. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago, as well as a master’s from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
“We remember Selena as a person of endless passion, indefatigable energy, loyal and joyful friendship, infectious optimism, and integrity,” Bolen added. “Our entire industry is stronger and better for her efforts and having known her.”
National Air Transportation Association president and CEO Curt Castagna further said that the general aviation community is mourning the loss of a “true industry champion” and said, “Selena’s skill in creating community and strategizing for the greater good of general and business aviation was unmatched and will be dearly missed. Our hearts and thoughts go out to her family and countless loved ones.”
She is survived by her parents Shafi and Karen, her brother Justin, and her daughter Amaya.