Story ID: 003
People in Aviation 
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: A look at recent changes in leadership roles and job titles across the aviation industry and honoring those who have flown west.
Word Count: 1422
Aloft AeroArchitects has selected Scott Meyer to succeed Robert Sundin as CEO. Sundin is retiring after more than 40 years in the aviation industry. Meyer brings 30 years of aerospace and business aviation experience, beginning in engineering in advanced technologies and later, holding roles including CEO of the Comlux America MRO and completion center and COO for North American operations at Flying Colours.

JetAviva is transitioning leadership with Emily Deaton taking the helm as CEO. Deaton, who had been COO, succeeds Tim White, who has led the aircraft brokerage firm since 2016 and is taking the role of vice-chairman. Deaton joined jetAviva in 2019 as v-p of sales after serving as manager of CRM strategy and customer experience for Embraer Executive Jets.

Web Manuals promoted Paul Sandstrom to COO and Krister Genmark to v-p of sales worldwide. A 10-year veteran of Web Manuals, Sandstrom was previously chief revenue officer and director of operations for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Genmark joined the company in 2016 as a regional manager for the Americas and was responsible for setting up Web Manuals’ North American office.

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) promoted Ryan Waguespack to executive v-p. A former charter and management executive at Summit Aviation, Waguespack joined NATA in November 2018 as senior v-p of aircraft management, air charter services, and MROs. In addition, the association brought long-time FAA official Keith DeBerry on board in a full-time capacity as senior v-p of safety and education. DeBerry, who has 45 years of aviation experience including more than two decades in FAA leadership roles, had previously served as senior advisor of regulatory affairs in maintenance for the association and before that had been director of the FAA Academy.

Jake Banglesdorf was promoted to executive v-p for at Assent Aeronautics. Banglesdorf joined Assent Aeronautics in 2019 after serving with Charlie Bravo Aviation.

USAIG has promoted MC Ernst to senior v-p and Special Risks Underwriting Department manager. Ernst has served with the company for more than nine years, becoming airline underwriting manager in 2018 and then senior v-p in 2020.

Bombardier realigned its international sales leadership team naming Emmanuel Bornand as v-p of sales for Europe, Russia, CIS, the Middle East, and Africa. Bornand has served with Bombardier since 2008 and previously had been a regional v-p for Europe.  Stéphane Leroy is adding sales in Asia-Pacific and China to his role of v-p of sales for specialized aircraft. Leroy has a 20-year background with Bombardier and has spent eight years in Asia. Bombardier also named Michael Anckner v-p of sales for U.S. corporate fleets, specialized aircraft, and Latin America. Most recently v-p of worldwide Learjet sales, corporate fleets, and specialized aircraft, Anckner has served with Bombardier for 11 years.

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy named her leadership team, selecting Dana Schulze to serve as managing director. Schulze previously was director of the Office of Aviation Safety and has served as an aircraft system safety engineer, chief of the aviation engineering division, and chief of the major investigations division for the organization. Succeeding Schulze as head of aviation safety is Tim LeBaron. LeBaron, a pilot and a former aircraft mechanic, joined the NTSB as an intern in 2003 and since has led more than 300 airplane crash investigations.

The Naples Airport Authority named Byron Gray director of FBO Services for Naples Aviation. Gray has more than two decades of general aviation industry experience, including holding leadership positions with several international FBO chains and most recently serving as national sales manager for a national fuel supplier

Cutter Aviation promoted Kevin Reedy to director of safety and Chadd Garvy to chief pilot of its charter and flight management department. Reedy, who has more than 30 years of experience in aircraft quality assurance maintenance management and customer service, joined Cutter in November 2011 as aircraft maintenance supervisor was promoted to maintenance manager in 2015 and chief inspector/accountable manager in 2017. Garvy, who flies both the Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24, joined Cutter in 2019 after serving as a senior instructor and check airman in a flight school that has more than 350 students.

Randy Stromski joined King Aerospace Commercial Corporation (KACC) as director of quality assurance. Stromski formerly was site manager for ACET Hawaii, where he supported C-40 (B737-700) aircraft and subsystems and also has held leadership positions with Viasat San Diego, Mokulele Airlines, Gogo, AAR Aircraft Services, Bombardier Aircraft Services, and Premier Turbines.

Catherine “Cat” Buchanan joined the Stack as director of business development. Buchanan brings 15 years of business aviation charter and brokerage experience to her new role, primarily in the United Arab Emirates, including head of brokerage and FBO Sales at Royal Jet, sales manager at Chapman Freeborn, and passenger charter analyst at Air Charter Service.

Aaron White joined MRO Insider as director of sales. White’s aviation career began as a business development manager in aviation recruiting and SaaS startup and he also has served as a research analyst and sales associate for an aircraft sales/acquisition company.

Avports appointed April Gasparri manager of the Westchester County Airport. She succeeds Peter Scherrer, who served as manager of the airport since 2005 but has been promoted to v-p of airport management services and is part of the Avports executive team. A former U.S. Army helicopter pilot-in-command, Gasparri has 15 years of experience holding various leadership roles at the Port Authority of New York and Jersey airports and with Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

Coleman Jet Solutions named Mike Pryor director of market intelligence.  Pryor has more than 30 years of aviation industry experience, most recently serving as an acquisitions and sales executive, but also as an assistant general manager at a Signature Flight Support FBO and as manager of administration for Priester Aviation.

Final Flights

Langhorne Bond, who had served as FAA Administrator from 1977 to 1981 and remained involved in Washington aviation and transportation circles in the decades following, died on January 29. He was 84.

While at the helm of the FAA, Bond steered the early phases of a computerized national air traffic control system that paved the way for today’s next-generation ATC system, NBAA said.

Born March 11, 1937, in Shanghai as the son of international aviation executive William Langhorne Bond, Bond had a long history of public service, including as a special assistant to the Undersecretary of Commerce for Transportation from 1965 until the formation of the Department of Transportation (DOT) in 1967.

Legendary Tuskegee Airman Brigadier General Charles E. McGee passed away on January 16, He was 102.

McGee, who remained active and a visible member of the aviation community throughout his life, was a U.S. Army Air Force and U.S. Air Force pilot who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He flew a record 409 combat missions and achieved multiple honors for both his service and industry advocacy.

Born Dec. 7, 1919, in Cleveland, McGee established his mark as a leader with the Tuskegee Airmen, the Army Air Corps' first African-American fighter squadron—the 99th Flying Squadron that was named for the initial training the airmen received in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Innovative Solutions & Support (IS&S) founder, chairman, and CEO Geoffrey S.M. Hedrick, 79, died on January 12 from complications arising from a sudden illness.

Son of Paul Harrington Hedrick and nephew of Carl Krause who both participated in the development of a Sperry Mk 19 gyrocompass design to enable under-ice navigation at the North Pole, Geoffrey Hedrick spent his entire professional career in the avionics industry, founding IS&S in 1988.

After studying to become an electrical engineer at Cornell, he briefly worked at the aviation instrument subsidiary of Bulova. In 1971, he founded Harowe Systems as a joint venture with an aerospace hardware organization, and by 1978 that company had grown to the point that it was acquired by Smiths Industries. Hedrick continued to steer Harowe and eventually was named president and CEO of Smiths Industries North American Aerospace Companies.

A decade after that sale, he established Exton, Pennsylvania-based IS&S, initially developing digital fuel quantity indicating systems. Since then, the company has branched into numerous aircraft systems, including the ThrustSense autothrottle.

Over the years, Hedrick amassed nearly 100 patents in the electronics, optoelectric, electromagnetic, aerospace, and contamination-control fields.

 

 

 

 
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