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

Ken Dufour and Jason Zilberbrand have taken over the management and day-to-day operations of appraisal company Vref Publishing. Dufour, who has a 50-year career in aviation, spent 20 years as a board member for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and has established a strong background in appraisals and as an expert witness. Zilberbrand previously served with JSSI, The Jet Collection, and most recently, as CEO of Aurum Jets.

 


Windecker Aircraft appointed Yubi Chen CEO. Chen brings a background in international business and trade relations with foreign countries to her new role.

 


Safran Helicopter Engines named Franck Saudo CEO.&nbsp;Saudo joined Safran in 2011 and served most recently as CEO of Safran Transmission Systems. He will be replaced in that role by Eric Valentin, who was promoted from vice president for production in the French manufacturer’s landing gear and integration division.

 


Stephen “Wally” Wallace joined Launch Technical Workforce Solutions as president of Launch Technicians.&nbsp;Wallace previously held leadership positions with MRO Holdings and Flightstar Aircraft Services.

 


David Adler joined BrightWater Partners as president of newly formed BrightWater Aviation Capital.&nbsp;Adler retired as president of Sikorsky Aerospace Services in November 2015 after serving with the company for 17 years.

 


Aircraft Propeller Service appointed Andrew Dawson CFO. Dawson previously served as CFO for Nidec Drive Systems, as well as for Merkle-Korff, and also has served with Ernst and Young.

 


SterlingRisk Insurance appointed Michael O’Donnell president of its Aviation Practice Group. O’Donnell, who joined SterlingRisk in 2011, most recently was executive vice president of the group and has served in the aviation insurance industry since 2002.

 

 

 


The Malibu/Mirage Owners &amp; Pilots Association (MMOPA) board of directors appointed Dianne White executive director, effective April 1. She succeeds Brian Cameron, who is retiring from the position. White will continue to serve as editor of MMOPA Magazine and brings 30 years of marketing and business and management experience, including as editor of Twin &amp; Turbine Magazine, to her new role.

 


Jet Linx named Brad Drew senior v-p of sales. Drew has more than 25 years of industry experience including as founder of DrewfordL Consulting and as senior v-p of sales for Sentient Jet.

 


Cirrus Aircraft named Ken Harness senior v-p of product development. Harness has more than 28 years of leadership experience in the aviation and aerospace industries, including as v-p of product development and engineering at Highland Group, COO at Sikorsky Global Helicopters, COO at Diamond Aircraft, and v-p of engineering at Eclipse Aviation.

 


Mott MacDonald named Graham Bolton its global aviation practice leader. Bolton has more than 25 years of aviation experience, having been involved in the strategic planning, design, and delivery of projects at airports including Heathrow, Dubai, Istanbul, Hong Kong, and Seattle.

 


Executive AirShare named Dylan Haynie senior v-p of sales. Haynie most recently was sales director for Embraer and before that spent nearly 17 years with Flexjet.

 


Michael Donahoe has taken the role of v-p, U.S. and Latin America sales for Hopkinson Aircraft Sales. Donahoe previously served as operations coordinator for Southwest Flight Center and then became in involved with business aircraft acquisition and/or sales for JetBrokers, Gary Lewin Aviation, Integrated Aviation Group and Threshold Ventures/Scottsdale West Holdings.

 


Erickson Incorporated named Kevin Cochie vice president and general manager of defense and national security and Hayden Olson vice president of safety and human capital. Also Chris Schuldt is taking the role of chief of staff and senior director of DNS Special Programs. Cochie has more than two decades holding public and private sector roles in the defense industry, most recently as vice president of Washington operations and special programs for Nammo. Olson, who most recently led his own advisory firm, returns to Erickson, where he previously was director of finance business operations and interim vice president and general manager for government aviation. Schuldt previously served with Evergreen Helicopters in sales, program management, and executive capacities.

 


The Aerospace Industries Association named Alex Wagner vice president and senior advisor to AIA president and CEO Eric Fanning. Wagner previously spent seven years with the Department of Defense, most recently as chief of staff to the 22nd Secretary of the Army.

 


National Jets hired James Dent as vice president of flight operations. Dent, who was previously director of training at the company, brings more than 50 years of aviation experience to his new position, holding roles of chief pilot and director of operations for Part 135 operators, as well as developing training programs for Burnside Ott.

 


Embraer named Mark Schramek vice president, government relations in the U.S. Schramek has more than 20 years of government and government relations experience, previously serving as senior executive account manager supporting the Space and Intelligence Systems Segment of Harris Corporation and before that holding assignments at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Air Force and Air Combat Command.

 


Brad Kutz joined Wipaire as vice president of engineering. Kutz most recently was a senior systems engineering for Rockwell Collins and also has served with Cirrus and AAI Corporation China (Textron Defense Systems).

 


Tom Captain joined Spike Aerospace as an executive advisor. Captain brings a nearly four-decade background in aerospace to his new role, recently retiring as vice chairman from Deloitte, where he led global aerospace and defense practice.

 


<div>
MROinsider.com added three account managers: Craig Miracle in Austin, Texas; Guy Shaginaw in Orlando, Florida; and, Jacob Kingsley in Tecumseh, Michigan. Miracle, who holds an A&amp;P certificate, previously was a UH-60 mechanic for the U.S. Army. Shaginaw has 20 years of business experience and is a private pilot. Kingsley is stepping into a field he grew up around, MROInsider.com said.

</div>

 


TrueNoord added Richard Jacobs as head of sales and marketing and Carst Lindeboom as sales director. Jacobs has a 25-year career that began with Fokker Aircraft, VLM Airlines and Denim Air. Lindeboom formerly served Denim Air as sales director, TUI Airlines, and Amsterdam Airlines.

 


Duncan Aviation named Keith Schell as manager of its components repairs and parts &amp; rotables sales teams. Schell joined Duncan Aviation in 2015 as parts sales team leader and most recently was manager of the parts &amp; rotables. In addition Dan Moog&nbsp;joined the turbine engine service sales team, Moog who will focus on sales in the Northeast U.S. and brings 25 years of aviation experience to his new role.

 


Shane Burns was promoted to general manager of the Downeast air facility located at the Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, Maine.&nbsp;Burns has served as assistant general manager for the facility since 1999.

 


Joshua Gentner joined Smith Gambrell &amp; Russell’s (SGR) Global Transport and Corporate Practices as a partner based out of the New York office. Gentner joins SGR from Vedder Price, where he counseled on debt, equity, and lease financings, including U.S. and cross-border leveraged leases, among other areas.

 


Mayo Aviation appointed Jeffrey Curry director of technical services. Curry, who spent eight years with the U.S. Marine Corps, has more than 30 years of aviation industry experience with companies including NetJets, Business Jet Access, Pratt &amp; Whitney, Gulfstream Aerospace, Raytheon Aircraft Services, and West Virginia Air Center.

 


West Star Aviation named Michael Zeris Gulfstream technical sales manager at its East Alton, Illinois (ALN) facility. Zeris, who joined West Star in 2015, has 17 years of aviation experience, including service in the U.S Navy as an aircraft technician and with Midcoast/Jet Aviation.

 

 

 


<h2>Final Flight</h2>

 


Archie Trammell, Jr., a renowned aviation journalist, safety advocate, and weather radar expert, died on February 5. He was 89. Born on Oct. 23, 1928, in Corpus Christi, Texas, Trammell long had a passion for aviation, receiving Army Air Corps training during World War II. He subsequently became a mechanic and joined the U.S. Coast Guard, where he went to loran school and first learned about radar on the job. Following his service, he earned degrees in aircraft maintenance engineering and journalism and became a commercial pilot.

 


He first returned to mechanic work, performing maintenance on DC-6s and -7s for American Airlines, before stepping into journalism. While working for a newspaper in Stockton, California, he wrote a few articles for Flying magazine, eventually joining the publication as senior editor. Trammell later moved over to take the role of editor-in-chief for Business and Commercial Aviation. In the late 1970s, he left BCA to join Bendix, and, after a short stint, he founded his own radar-training firm, AJT, in 1979, becoming known for his weather radar seminars, lectures, and video programs. He brought that expertise to AOPA as executive director of the Air Safety Foundation from 1981 to 1983, during which time he published bimonthly Air Safety Journals.

 


Returning to his business, Trammell became a leading expert on proper use of weather radar and flying procedures. NBAA in 2006 recognized Trammell for hiscontribution to safety with its Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation, calling him a “widely sought-after safety consultant whose lectures…have been used to train pilots who fly the U.S. President and other high government officials, as well as the crews of more than 4,000 business flight departments.”

 


Over his career, Trammell wrote numerous safety articles, published a free website, produced training manuals, and authored a book on safe flying.

People in Aviation: April 2018

 Ken Dufour and Jason Zilberbrand have taken over the management and day to day operations of appraisal company Vref Publishing.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN