A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Tony Bailey, former CEO of Comlux Aviation Services, has been named president of Ohio-based Spirit Avionics.


Indiana-based private aviation solutions provider TMC has promoted Scott Wise from general manager to president of the company.


Bill Snead, most recently v-p of aviation insurance with Falcon Insurance, has joined the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) as president of AOPA Insurance Services.


UK-based international aircraft charter and management provider Hangar8 has appointed Greg Martin as COO. Previously he was v-p for EMEA business development at Jet Support Services (JSSI).


Utah-based TAC Air subsidiary Keystone Aviation, has promoted Kimberly Page from CFO to COO


Bob King, most recently Cessna’s v-p of information technology, has been named business leader for the Mustang, M2, CJ2+, CJ3 and CJ4, while Brian Rohloff, previously business leader for the Mustang and M2, has been named v-p of quality. The Textron subsidiary also promoted Lannie O’Bannion, formerly business leader for the Caravan, to regional v-p of sales for the Midwestern U.S. and Canada.


Calif.-based aircraft charter, sales and management solutions provider Avjet has promoted Andrew Bradley from s-v-p of global sales to president of global sales.


Gulfstream has appointed Luiz Sandler, most recently sales director for International Jet Traders, its Brazilian sales representative, as regional v-p of sales for South America. He replaces Bill Arrazola, who recently retired.


North Carolina-based brokerage Piedmont Aircraft has promoted Paul Strack from aircraft sales director to the newly created position of v-p of acquisitions.


Dr. Christoph Hoppe has been named the new CEO of European aircraft structures manufacturer Premium Aerotec. Previously he was head of human resources of EADS’s defense division, Cassidian.


Engineered aircraft product specialist Yankee Pacific Aerospace has named Peter Hokanson, most recently president and CEO of Azmark Aero Systems, as CFO. He replaces Ron Moore. At the New Hampshire-based company’s Jormac Aerospace subsidiary, Jerry Koh, most recently v-p of engineering, was tapped as v-p of flight sciences, while Colt Mehler was promoted from project engineer to v-p of project engineering.


Brian Mooney, director of customer support and operations at Allegiant Systems, has been named interim CEO. He replaces Andrew Kemmetmueller, who left the company. Ultan O’Brien has joined the Las Vegas-based technology developer as sales, marketing and product consultant.


Aircraft charter and management provider <a href="http://keyair.com/">Key Air</a> has appointed Jim Bennett, formerly with Jet Access, as v-p of flight operations. The Connecticut-based company also named Bill Ekstrom, most recently a business development and sales manager with CitationAir, as its manager of business operations.


Leslie Chen, previously v-p of Asia for the Aviation Capital Group, was named v-p of marketing with aviation finance specialist CIT Aerospace.


Pentastar Aviation has named John Scicluna as v-p of sales. Before this appointment he was the Michigan-based aviation services provider’s sales director.


John Young has been named as v-p of jet sales at brokerage Kansas Aircraft. Most recently he was a regional v-p of Citation sales with Cessna.


Texas-based Blackhawk Modifications has named Sam Jantzen, most recently COO at Raisbeck Engineering, as v-p of marketing.


Bell Helicopter has named Jason Johnson, most recently v-p of customer support and contract administration at Heli-One, a division of CHC, as director, sales and customer support.


Fabrice Dumas, previously sales manager with Air France Industries KLM Engineering &amp; Maintenance, has joined Hamburg, Germany-based Spairliners as head of sales and marketing.


West Coast Aviation Services has promoted Anton Pint from FAA accountable manager to Part 135 director of maintenance for West Coast Charters, and named Alfredo Garcia, formerly sales manager of its West Coast Aircraft Maintenance, the division’s new general manager.


Global aviation services provider Tyrus Wings has named Mario Dongellini, most recently a training captain with Qatar Airways as its new Latin American sales executive.


Deepak Sharma has been promoted from technical director of the AJW Aviation division to overall AJW Group technical director. Ruslan Nurislamov, previously Lufthansa Technik’s general manager for the Central Asia region, was named AJW Aviation’s v-p of business development for Russia and the CIS region.


Air medical and air ambulance equipment provider Spectrum Aeromed announced that Rammie Olson has joined the company in the newly created position of project coordinator. Former project manager Michael Gallagher has been promoted to director of production, while Boyd Johnson was promoted from quality assurance manager to production and quality assurance manager. Laurie Lundstrom was named assistant office manager/AS9100 management representative.


Dr. Brent Bowen has been selected as dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott, Ariz., campus. Previously he was a professor and head of Purdue University’s aviation technology department.


Flight Display Systems has promoted Eric Delash from CMS program manager and technical sales support to regional sales manager. The Georgia-based company named Joyce Reeves, formerly its materials coordinator, as inside sales coordinator.


Richard Wade, previously Arinc’s international flight coordinator, has been named operations manager with flight support provider Aeroflight Solutions.


Airborne catering provider Alison Price On Air has appointed Juan Carlos Serna to the newly created role of business development manager. Most recently he served as business development director at Altitude Millbank.


FlightSafety International has promoted Christopher Weinberg from director of strategy and business development to chief information officer. The New York-based training provider also announced that Andy Johnson, most recently manager of the company’s learning center in Orlando, Fla., and Chip White, previously manager of its Gulfstream Learning Center in Savannah, Ga., have switched duties.


Dallas Avionics has named Tonya Salatino as outside sales representative for the Northeast U.S. and Canada.


Lagos-based aviation support provider EAN has appointed Joe McDermott, previously a ground operations and business development consultant with Emerald Flight Support, to the newly created role of head of FBO operations.


UK-based charter broker Air Partner has appointed Paul Richardson as director of its private jet division. Most recently he helped launch financial services aggregator Cover-U.


Dave Mills has joined Landmark Aviation as general manager of its Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK) location. Before joining Landmark, he was general manager for Business Jet Center in Oakland.


Cutter Aviation has promoted Marisa Alkin from customer service representative to charter coordinator.


Celso Azuma, previously with Colt International, has joined World Fuel Services as sales executive for Brazil.


Vector Aerospace has named Greg Mant, previously technical sales representative for Patlon Aircraft, as Eastern Canada regional sales manager for its Helicopter Services North America division. The Canadian MRO provider also appointed Eric Hicks, most recently the company’s international regional sales director, as regional sales director for Western Canada, Alaska and Hawaii.


Saker Aircraft has appointed former Cessna president Charles Johnson to its advisory board.


John Turner, formerly director of BAE’s military aircraft division, has joined airshow promoter Farnborough International as non-executive director for flying. He takes over from Vic Lockwood, who has retired.


Naveen Rao has joined international law firm Patton Boggs’s aviation practice group as of counsel.


Aircraft and aviation-related data and services provider GlobalAir.com has promoted Ray Robinson from West Coast sales representative to media manager.


Awards and Honors


Art Greenfield, the National Aeronautic Association’s (NAA) director of contests and records, and one of the leading experts in the world in the recording and certifying of aviation and aerospace records, has been awarded the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s (FAI) annual silver medal by a vote of the FAI membership. The award is “reserved for persons who have occupied high office in FAI or in an aeronautical organization in one of its member countries, and in the discharge of their duties have shown exceptional powers of leadership and influence, to the benefit of the whole international air sport community.”


Final Flight


John Marino, 65, an employee of FlightSafety International for more than three decades, died on August 16, in Alexandria, Va., after a long illness. An ROTC college graduate, he earned a U.S. Army officer commission upon graduation and was assigned to flight school, where he earned his rotary- and fixed-wing pilot credentials. During his army career, he served in several operational and command positions, including command of a rescue helicopter unit and as chief administrator of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing. He joined FlightSafety in 1979 as assistant manager of its academy in Vero Beach, Fla., and worked his way up through positions of responsibility in operations, management and marketing, most recently serving as the training provider’s vice president of government affairs, based in Washington, D.C.

People in Aviation: September 2013

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