Category: People

Sugato Bhattacharjee has been appointed President of the Nexcelle engine nacelle joint venture of Safran Nacelles (Safran) and Middle River Aerostructure Systems, a subsidiary of ST Engineering. Bhattacharjee is a member of the Middle River Aerostructure Systems (MRAS) leadership team who brings extensive experience in management, design, manufacturing, and engineering – including managerial positions on international jet engine programs and in the joint venture environment. Prior to his appointment as Nexcelle President, Bhattacharjee was MRAS’ Senior Product Manager for regional nacelle programs. He began his aviation industry career in 1996, joining GE Aviation as a structural design engineer, then progressing Read more

Former International Airlines Group (IAG) CEO Willie Walsh has officially taken over from Alexandre de Juniac as the Director General (DG) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), becoming the organization’s 8th DG. His succession was made official at the 76th IATA Annual General Meeting on November 24, 2020. “I am passionate about our industry and about the critical work that IATA does on behalf of its members, never more so than during the COVID-19 crisis. IATA has been at the forefront of efforts to restart global connectivity, including developing the IATA Travel Pass. Less visible but of equal importance, Read more

Effective April 1, 2021, Lufthansa Consulting intensifies the clout of its sales division: Christine Weigner, previously Associate Partner in the company, was appointed as Head of Market Lufthansa Group. Ronald Schulz joins Lufthansa Consulting and takes over the new position as Head of Market Global. Weigner manages the in-house consulting business of Lufthansa Consulting and its future development and is thus responsible for dealing with all topics and functions within the Lufthansa Group. She was promoted to Lufthansa Group leadership level and now continues her successful responsibility for Lufthansa Consulting’s internal consulting activities in this new leadership role. Schulz will Read more

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has appointed Romain Vetter as its new Head of Western Switzerland. Together with his team, Vetter will be in overall commercial charge of SWISS’ business activities throughout Western Switzerland, reporting directly to Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour. He succeeds Lorenzo Stoll, who will assume his new duties as Head of Swiss WorldCargo on April 1. Vetter joined SWISS’ Sales Channel Management in 2015. He went on to serve in Application Management as a project leader for new distribution channels such as the New Distribution Capability or NDC. Most recently he has been Head of Read more

FBO and ground support services company, Weston Aviation has appointed Nicole O’Connor as the company’s Commercial Director. O’Connor has 20 years’ experience in the travel and tourism industry, joining the long standing and wellregarded Weston Aviation team in 2019. With two decades of experience in sales and business development, she has been instrumental in the last year supporting the development of the local awareness of Weston Aviation and its services at Gloucestershire Airport, the company’s latest FBO and now headquarters in The Cotswolds, U.K. O’Connor will focus on driving forward the long-term growth of the organization by leading on the Read more

Vallair, the multi-faceted aviation business dedicated to the support of aircraft operators and lessors, has strengthened its MRO team with the appointment of Armando Filho as Director of Material Management. Filho will be responsible for Vallair’s component support division complementing the activities of the teardown team ensuring that customers extract maximum value from their assets. Vallair offers an integrated supply chain in conjunction with a component repair shop allowing it to oversee the return to full service of all components requiring repairs or overhauls, and ensuring customers have timely access to parts, worldwide. Vallair has recently augmented its MRO capability Read more

Adrian Dunne will join Norwegian as the company’s new EVP Operations. Dunne has more than thirty years of experience as a leader within the aviation industry. Dunne spent the first 16 years of his aviation career with the Irish airline Aer Lingus where he held various positions, including managing all the airline’s operations at Heathrow airport in London and in Dublin. Following this, he held managerial positions with Ryanair over the last 15 years, including Director of Ground Operations and Director of Operations. Dunne will take over from Johan Gauermann, who was appointed interim head of Operations in June 2020. Read more

Avionica, a global aircraft connectivity leader, has announced the promotion of aviation industry veteran, Scott Ridge, as its new Vice President of Product and Services. In this newly created position, Ridge will be putting more focus on building the right products and services for customers and bringing new business models to the industry.  Demand from turbulent times within the aviation industry has driven focus to more customized offerings for clients. Ridge joined Avionica four months ago and was tasked with establishing a strong partner and dealer network.  His efforts and leadership have proven successful.  Ridge has worked for major OEM’s, commercial airlines, Read more

Alaska Air Group has appointed Constance von Muehlen as Chief Operating Officer of Alaska Airlines, effective April 3, 2021. Upon assuming this role, von Muehlen will join Alaska’s Executive Committee and report to Ben Minicucci, who becomes Chief Executive Officer on March 31, 2021. She succeeds current COO, Gary Beck, who has announced his retirement following an impressive 47-year career in aviation. A 30-year aviation veteran who received her leadership training flying Black Hawk helicopters as a Captain in the U.S. Army, von Muehlen brings a proven track record of safety and operational excellence to the role. As COO, von Muehlen will oversee the Read more

The Board of Directors of GAMMA Aerospace, has appointed Thomas C. Hutton as Chief Executive Officer of the company. Hutton joins GAMMA Aerospace after having served as Chief Executive Officer of Cadence Aerospace, a provider of highly complex aerospace components and assemblies to commercial and defense customers. Headquartered in Mansfield, Texas, GAMMA Aerospace is a specialized, end-to-end provider of engineered air frame and flight components for leading original equipment manufacturers and Tier-I suppliers in the aerospace and defense industries.