Cessna Aircraft tapped Ron Alberti, senior v-p of integrated supply chain, to assume a new role responsible for the previously announced relocation of work from Columbus, Ga., and Wichita to Cessna’s facility in Mexico. He will also be responsible for overseeing Skycatcher production in China. Eric Cardinali, currently president of sister company Bell...
moreElliott Aviation cofounder Arlene Elliott, 91, died on January 17 at her home in Naples, Fla., the business aviation sales and services company announced last month. Her husband, Herb Elliott, with whom she cofounded Elliott Flying Service in 1936, died in 2005 at the age of 90. Arlene served as the primary financial officer for Elliott Aviation for much of...
moreRobert Wiles, the 26-year-old son of National Flight Services (NSF) owner Tom Wiles, is believed to be dead and a former coworker has been arrested for his death, the FBI said in late December. Robert Wiles disappeared in April 2008, at which time he was believed to have been kidnapped and held for ransom. Stobert “Tobie” Holt Jr. is in custody and facing...
moreUniversal Avionics Systems on January 15 announced the retirement of senior vice president and board member Donald Berlin. He has held senior management positions at the company since introducing its first product in 1982. In his 28-year career at Universal, he served two years as COO and 24 years as vice president of marketing and support before his senior...
moreThe court-appointed trustee in the 2008 Silver State Helicopters (SSH) collapse has filed suit against the company’s ex-CEO, Jerry Airola, and his top deputy, Steve Pickett, charging that the two used a complex shell game to fraudulently transfer $8.2 million out of the company in the months immediately before it declared bankruptcy.
The trustee also...
moreHawker Beechcraft is establishing a new sales and customer support team in this part of the world. The U.S. manufacturer has recruited former Asia Jet CEO Justin Firestone as its new president for the AsiaPacific region. Firestone will continue to be based in Hong Kong and will lead a network of staff extending in Beijing, Singapore and Australia.Prior to...
moreGlenn “Wes” Lematta, 83, the founder of Columbia Helicopters, died December 24. Lematta and his brothers started Columbia in 1957 with a single used Hiller UH-12B in which they offered rides at county fairs. The company grew into a global heavy-lift helicopter operator that today employs 600 and operates a fleet of 30 Vertol 107 II and Boeing 234 Chinook...
moreGreg Alan Caires: Lieutenant, U.S. Naval Reserve, Public Affairs Officer - Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, International Security Assistance Force; v-p of media relations - CobhamI am in the process of being deployed to Afghanistan. It is the first time I’ve gone on active duty since I joined the reserves in 2003. I’ve already reported for duty, but it...
moreHawker Beechcraft senior vice president of sales Brad Hatt is leaving the company as of February 8, according to a letter sent to employees last Thursday by executive vice president Shawn Vick. Hatt was president and general manager of the Hawker business, then in March 2006 became president of global commercial sales and later president of commercial...
moreElliott Aviation cofounder Arlene Elliott, 91, died on Sunday at her home in Naples, Fla., the business aviation sales and services company announced today. Her husband, Herb Elliott, with whom she cofounded Elliott Aviation in 1936, died in 2005 at the age of 90. “This is a sad time for the entire Elliott Aviation family,” said son Wynn Elliott, who has...
moreNewsmaker of the Year
moreIndividually last year there was no taller toppling in business aviation than that of NetJets founder and chairman Richard Santulli, who on August 4 announced his resignation from the fractional company he had been building since he acquired Executive Jet Aviation in 1984.The kid from Brooklyn who had taken his first airplane ride at the age of 21 (en route...
moreNot long after Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger helped restore the good name of the piloting profession with his extraordinary water landing in the Hudson River, a pair of Northwest Airlines pilots did their part to remind the general public of its shortcomings with perhaps an equally extraordinary act of distraction while flying 144 passengers between...
moreThe coordinated response by NBAA, GAMA and business jet manufacturers to critics who chose to make business aircraft a high-profile symbol of all that’s wrong on Wall Street ranks as one of the biggest stories we covered in the last year–in part because of how successful the counter p.r. effort turned out to be.The trouble all started with a report by ABC...
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