Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

Global Jet Capital appointed Bill Boisture chairman. Boisture, an operating partner at Global Jet investor AE Industrial Partners and previous executive director of Global Jet, has 35 years of industry experience, leading Gulfstream, NetJets, SimuFlite and Beechcraft.&nbsp;He succeeds Shawn Vick, who took the role of CEO at Global Jet.

 


Aloft AeroArchitects appointed Robert (Bob) Sundin president and CEO, as well as a member of the board of directors. Sundin joins Aloft from Dassault Aircraft Services, where he was president. John Martin, who has been president and CEO, moves to the role of chairman. Martin has served as president and CEO of Aloft (formerly Pats Aircraft Systems) since 2008.

 


Seeker Aircraft named Ed Lundeen president. Lundeen previously served as executive v-p&nbsp;of business operations for Eclipse Aerospace and also has served as supply deputy division leader for Los Alamos National Laboratory.

 


John Owen has joined Executive AirShare as CFO. Owen previously was v-p for the national executive search firm EFL Associates and also has served as CFO for the supply chain management company OrTran.

 


Mente Group has reinforced its management team, bringing on board four seasoned business aviation executives.&nbsp;The company named Richard Emery as COO; David Coppock as managing director&nbsp;for the Central and Western U.S.; Jim Lewis as v-p of sales and marketing for Northern California, the Pacific Northwest and Mountain regions; and Dan Dunn as managing director. Emery has 25 years of experience managing aviation organizations and has worked with Gulfstream, Bombardier and Hawker Beechcraft.&nbsp;Coppock joins Mente from SmartTray, where he was COO. He has also served as v-p of sales for Hawker Beechcraft, regional sales director for Gulfstream and as a sales demonstration pilot for Bombardier. Lewis brings 40 years of aviation experience to his new role, previously serving as regional sales director at Embraer, and before that was sales director for Gulfstream. Dunn previously was v-p at Jetcraft and v-p of Key Air.

 


John Sell joined Jet Edge International as senior v-p&nbsp;of flight operations. Sell has 20 years of aviation experience, previously serving as director of flight operations for Flexjet, Part 135 chief pilot for Million Air Dallas and captain for U.S. Steel.

 


Nav Canada appointed Alexander (Sandy) Struthers executive v-p&nbsp;of finance and CFO, responsible for accountability of the organization’s capital and operating programs. Struthers previously held the roles of CFO, COO and chief information officer for Hydro One.

 


Amanda Applegate has become a partner at Aerlex Law Group, and Sarah Northcraft Spann has joined the firm as a transactional attorney. Applegate, who joined Aerlex in 2011, has served as an aviation attorney for two decades and previously served with NetJets. Northcraft Spann also served with NetJets and its affiliate company Executive Jet Management, handling both fractional and whole-aircraft transactions.

 


Nomad Aviation appointed Andreas Pfisterer senior v-p for aircraft management and accountable manager. Pfisterer previously was director of operations for ExecuJet Europe and also has served as a pilot and manager with Swissair and a flight inspector with the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation.

 


The Aerospace Industries Association elected Boeing chairman, president and CEO Dennis Muilenburg as chairman of the AIA Board of Governors for 2017. In that role, Muilenburg succeeds Lockheed Martin chairman, president and CEO Marillyn Hewson. Raytheon chairman and CEO Thomas Kennedy will become vice chair.

 

 

 


TAG Aviation Europe restructured its maintenance service operations with several new appointments. Cyrille Pillet was appointed v-p of maintenance operations. He formerly spent 10 years with the French MRO Revima Group and also has served with British Airways and British Mediterranean Airways. John-Paul Williams is commercial manager for TAG Farnborough&nbsp;M aintenance Services. He was previously senior manager for line maintenance at Qatar Airways and has also served with Monarch Aircraft Engineering. Greg Hoggett, formerly TAG’s accountable manager of TAG Farnborough Maintenance Services, was named COO of TAG Aviation UK.

 


Tony Ciaravino has joined Journey Aviation as v-p of marketing and client services. Ciaravino previously spent three years holding sales roles with Wyvern and has also served as a charter sales account representative for Solairus Aviation.

 


Jet Aviation appointed Edgar Guerreiro manager of its FBO in Geneva. Guerreiro, who has 20 years of experience in hospitality and aviation, joined the company’s MRO and FBO facility in Geneva as purchasing manager in March. He succeeds Joao Martins, who has taken the role of general manager of the company’s Zurich operation.&nbsp;Martins has held management roles with VistaJet and NetJets Europe.

 


Vickie Mahoney joined ExcelAire as v-p of business development, based in Teterboro, N.J. Mahoney, who has 25 years of sales and marketing experience, was most recently v-p of sales for First Flight.

 


Falcon Aviation named Pauline Smith FBO manager. Smith has 25 years of industry experience, most recently as head of commercial services and terminal manager for Marshall Aerospace.

 


Hawthorne Global Aviation Services named Coleman Jamison to the advisory board of its recently acquired FBO at Tuscaloosa Regional Airport in Alabama. Jamison, who was raised in Tuscaloosa and is a graduate of the University of Alabama, formed the aircraft trading and leasing company Texas Aviation Group.

 


Western Aircraft promoted Jay Reeder to turboprop regional sales manager. Reeder, who joined Western Aircraft in May 2015, previously served as the material operations coordinator for EuroTec Vertical Flight Solutions and as v-p Reeder Flying Service.

 


Pentastar Aviation appointed Scott Brooks to the newly created position of avionics director. Brooks has 30 years of business aviation experience and previously served as principal regional sales manager for Rockwell Collins.

 


Baines Simmons, the aviation safety consultancy division of Air Partner, appointed John Nicholas as a principal consultant. Nicholas previously spent 18 years with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, where he held roles including head of technical services, head of shared services, head of applications and approvals and head of licensing policy and standards.

 


Allan Mann was appointed senior director of safety at Wheels Up. Mann, who currently sits as the chairman of NBAA's Domestic Operations Committee, has 30 years of aviation industry experience, including serving as v-p of operations and director of operations at Reynolds Jet Management, manager of two general aviation airports, and head of two FBOs.

 


Elliott Aviation named Bill Reeves director of maintenance services. Reeves, who originally served as an A&amp;P mechanic at Elliott Aviation from 1986 through 1989, is rejoining the company from Cessna/Textron Aviation in Milwaukee, where he was manager of aircraft maintenance.

 


Air Partner appointed Joe Halanen as emergency planning division manager, based at Air Partner’s UK headquarters at Gatwick. Halanen brings 11 years of emergency management and airline experience to his new role, including holding positions with British Airways and the government in London.

 


Cutter Aviation named Michelle Hoover HondaJet regional sales manager for Southern California, Southern Nevada (Clark County) and Hawaii. Previously Hoover was a regional sales associate for Textron Aviation and also has a sales background in the wine industry.

 


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Columbia Helicopters hired Mark Johnson as v-p of human resources.&nbsp;He has held a series of HR positions with Wacom, Standard Insurance, Tektronix, SRSM, Serena Software and WebTrends.&nbsp;

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Otto Wright has joined Axis Jet as director of business development. Most recently general manager of KaiserAir in Oakland, Calif., Wright has held a number of senior roles with Jetex Flight Support, Far East Russia Aircraft Services, Nextel Communications and Sun Microsystems.

 


Kenneth Parzygnat has joined JetLease Capital as director of aircraft finance. Parzygnat has 20 years of finance experience focusing on private equity, hedge funds and family offices.

 


Professional Aircraft Accessories hired Jack Turnbill as senior v-p of business development.&nbsp;Turnbill has a 20-year background in aviation, most recently as a consultant to Lockheed Martin Commercial Engine Solutions and before that in various positions with Delta Air Lines.

 


Pentastar Aviation named Barry Tilson director of maintenance. Previously Tilson was an MRO maintenance sales representative and service manager at TechnicAir and Landmark Aviation in Grand Rapids, Mich., and also served as director of maintenance at Northern Air in Grand Rapids.

 


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Raluca-Ana Anghelache was appointed manager of safety, learning and development for the European Business Aviation Association. Anghelache has previously held roles within the Air Safety Unit of European Commission DG Move, at Eurocontrol, as well as at the Advisory Council for Aviation Research and innovation in Europe.

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<h2>Awards and Honors</h2>

 


National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca) president Paul Rinaldi was named the recipient of the Air Traffic Control Association’s (ATCA) Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award. Considered ATCA’s highest honor, the Gilbert Award recognizes the lifelong achievements of an individual in the field of aviation.&nbsp;Rinaldi, the first person to be elected president of Natca for three terms, is being honored for his “exemplary career-long commitment to the betterment of the national airspace system,” ATCA said, adding that he has helped establish an unprecedented path of collaboration between Natca and the federal agencies and organizations with which the union works.”

People In Aviation: January 2017

Boisture appointed chairman of Global Jet Capital.

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