Gallery: MRO Industry Leadership Moves In 2023

Boeing is promoting Boeing Global Services President and CEO Stephanie Pope to the newly created position of chief operating officer on Jan. 1, 2024. As COO, Pope will lead company-wide supply chain, quality, manufacturing and engineering. Prior to being named Boeing Global Services president and CEO in April 2022, Pope held leadership positions throughout Boeing for nearly three decades. Boeing says it will name a successor to lead Global Services later.

Aviation Technical Services (ATS) announced Robert Cords as its new CEO Dec. 4. Cords was most recently executive vice president of fleet operations and infrastructure at private jet charter company Wheels Up. He has also held leadership positions at MRO Holdings and StandardAero.

Kellstrom Aerospace Group announced John McKirdy as its new chief commercial officer. McKirdy most recently served as senior vice president of the company’s Technical Services Group. Prior to that, he held senior commercial and operations roles at Wencor Group, Chromalloy and Air Canada.

AerFin has appointed David Greenwell as senior vice president of supply chain. Greenwell has held senior leadership positions at TrueAero and Kellstrom Aerospace, and was previously head of sales and marketing at AerFin.

STS Aviation Services Europe CEO Mick Adams will retire Jan. 1, 2024. He will be replaced by Ian Bartholomew, who will become executive vice president and managing director. Bartholomew became managing director in 2020 and has previously held roles at KLM UK Engineering, Etihad Airways and Monarch Aircraft Engineering. Meanwhile, STS Aviation Services is appointing new executive vice presidents and managing directors for its North America and Mobile Solutions groups: Shane King will lead STS Aviation Services North America and Daniel Burgess will lead STS Aviation Services Mobile Solutions.

[Pictured above: Mick Adams (center) receiving Aviation Week's Lifetime Achievement Award in MRO at MRO Americas 2022.]

Lufthansa Technik Turbine Shannon has appointed Pat Foley (right) as CEO and managing director. Foley was previously chief operations officer at Lufthansa Technik Budapest and CEO at Lufthansa Technik Puerto Rico. Maria Cilia (left) has been appointed CEO and head of base maintenance at Lufthansa Technik Malta. Cilia was most recently head of planning and engineering at Lufthansa Technik Sofia.

Daniel Hoffmann was appointed CEO of Etihad Engineering in October. Hoffmann previously served as CEO of Lufthansa Technik Sofia and held executive roles at Lufthansa Technik’s base maintenance facilities in Germany and the Philippines. He succeeds former Etihad Engineering CEO Abdul Khaliq Saeed, who has moved to the position of managing director within an aviation group.

Neil Russell has been appointed CEO of Aero Norway. He succeeds Glenford Marston, who is moving to the role of senior vice president of sales. Russell was previously chief operating officer at Aero Norway and has held various management roles in the aviation and oil and gas industries.

AJW Group has appointed Barry Swift (left) as chief operating officer. Swift was previously senior vice president of operations at AJW Group and has held leadership roles in aviation, defense and automotive sectors. AJW has also appointed Clare Brown (right) as senior vice president of finance. Brown was previously finance director at AJW Group and finance director at Thomas Cook.

Matthias Dullmann (right) has been appointed as the new CEO of SR Technics, succeeding Jean-Marc Lenz (right), who will continue in a part-time senior advisory function. Dullmann was most recently chief financial officer at SR Technics, and he will be succeeded by Remo Voehringer, who is currently vice president controlling at SR Technics. Owen McClave, SR Technics’ senior vice president of operations, will also become chief operating officer. The leadership changes will take effect on July 1.

Joramco has appointed Petra Lindemann as its new vice president of supply chain. Lindemann has held various industry leadership roles, including director and head of procurement services and interior at Swiss International Air Lines and head of strategic logistics and strategic procurement improvement and analysis at SR Technics.

Joramco has appointed Thomas Bjorndal as its new chief commercial officer, where he will lead growth of its commercial department. Bjorndal was most recently head of base maintenance services management at Swiss International Air Lines and has previously served as manager of line maintenance at Qatar Airways.

AAR has appointed Andrew Schmidt as senior vice president of AAR Digital Services and Trax. He will work closely with Trax leadership to scale the business and execute AAR’s strategy for the software subsidiary. Schmidt has more than 30 years of experience in the aviation, finance and digital segments, including his time as AAR’s senior vice president of intelligent solutions from 2011-2018.

AerSale has expanded its engineered solutions team, appointing Iso Nezaj (pictured left) to the newly created role of chief product development officer. Nezaj has previously served as president of engineered solutions, chief technical officer and division president for engineered solutions at the company. He will be succeeded by Ben Tschirhart (pictured right), AerSale’s newly appointed president of engineered solutions. Tschirhart most recently served as president of engineering solutions at ATS.

EirTrade Aviation appointed Steven Trowell as vice president of technical on July 25. Trowell previously served as accountable manager at EirTrade Aviation Maintenance, where he managed securing European Union Aviation Safety Agency Part 145 line maintenance approval for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families of aircraft, and as supervising manager for the company’s recent 787-800 dismantlements.

International Aero Engines (IAE) has appointed Kim Kinsley as its first female president, and she has concurrently been named vice president of V2500 programs at Pratt & Whitney. She was most recently vice president of environmental and airframe control systems—power and controls at Collins Aerospace. Kinsley succeeds Earl Exum, who will become chair of the IAE board.

Richard Sell (left) has been appointed HAECO Group’s new CEO, replacing Frank Walschot, who will remain as an advisor to the company. Sell, who is currently CEO of Hong Kong Aero Engine Services, will assume the new role July 1. HAECO Group also appointed Sandra Nieuwenhuijzen (right) as group director of component and engine services. Previously CEO of Sigma Aerospace, she started her new role at HAECO in late April.

Brian Sartain has been appointed chief operating officer at aerospace parts and repairs provider Ontic. Sartain, who began his new role on June 5, was most recently senior vice president of repair and engineering services at AAR.

AAR has appointed Tom Hoferer as its new vice president of repair and engineering services, where he will oversee the company’s MRO services and mobility systems operations. Hoferer most recently served as president of GE Aerospace’s Unison Industries.

Iberia Maintenance appointed Enrique Robledo as its new maintenance director, effective March 17. Robledo has held various maintenance roles at Iberia since 1999, most recently as deputy manager of the engine workshop. He replaces Andy Best, who is now maintenance director at British Airways.

GA Telesis has appointed a slew of new leadership roles so far in 2023. In May it promoted Jay Meshay to the position of vice president of the Power Solutions Team within the company's Flight Solutions Group and Lynda Cheng to senior vice president of Asia sales within its Flight Solutions Group. In April it appointed Nelson Llompart vice president and general manager and appointed Emmanuel Camejo as landing gear operations manager. In March it appointed Matthew Schneider vice president, head of trading within its Asset Transaction Group. In February it appointed Darryl Maraj as the company’s first global chief information officer.

StandardAero appointed Dan Satterfield (left) as its new chief financial officer in January, succeeding longtime CFO Michael Scott (center), who was appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer of WestJet Group in June. Satterfield was most recently CFO for Honeywell Aerospace. In April, StandardAero appointed Lloyd Barker (right) to the newly created position of senior vice president for Leap program industrialization and executive site leader for its San Antonio facility. Barker was most recently senior vice president of engineering and quality at StandardAero.

AFI KLM E&M has appointed Gilles Mercier as CEO of its subsidiary Barfield, effective July 1. Mercier was previously senior vice president of operations and senior vice president of customer care and business development at Barfield.

Joramco appointed Shakespear Nyamande (left) as its new vice president of planning in March. Nyamande most recently served as the director of engineering finance and vendor management at Air Astana. In February, it appointed Lambros Stasi (center) as its new vice president of operations. Stasi has more than 30 years of experience in aviation maintenance, including senior management positions from a range of airline organizations. In January, it appointed Patrick Armstrong (right) as its new vice president of commercial.

Flair Airlines has appointed Maciej Wilk as chief operating officer, where he will lead flight operations, airport operations and maintenance. Wilk previously served as chief operating officer at LOT Polish Airlines.

MAAS Aviation has appointed Jan van Engelen as its new CEO. Van Engelen has more than 25 years in the aviation services industry, where he most recently served as Swissport’s CEO for Continental Europe. He succeeds Tim Macdougald, who will take on the role of chief business development officer.

Matt Berkebile has been appointed as the new president of Farsound USA, where he will oversee Farsound’s operations and growth in North America. Berkebile has more than 17 years of experience in gas turbine, aviation and power generation engineering roles.

On June 15, Farsound also announced restructuring of its leadership team. It has appointed Chris Knott (pictured here) as its new CEO. Knott previously served as the company’s group finance director for 10 years. Additionally, it has appointed Jonathan Medhurst as chief procurement officer, Lee Kelsey as group sales director and transitioned Kevin Sargent from executive chairman to non-executive chairman.

In January, AvAir promoted Brandon Wesson (right) to president, following roles as executive vice president, vice president and director of sales. It also promoted Bob Knox (left) to chief financial officer, following his most recent role as chief accounting officer.

The Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance (IAMA) elected Frans van de Pol as chairman of the executive board in March. He joined IAMA’s board in 2021, and also leads Fokker Services’ engineering business unit. Van de Pol replaces outgoing chair Marc Pinault, who stepped down on March 7.

Launch Technical Workforce Solutions has appointed Mike Reporto (left) as chief commercial officer. Reporto previously served as president of staffing. Launch also promoted Jason Adams (center) to senior vice president of sales and appointed Mike Flitcroft (right) to the newly created role of vice president of delivery, where he will oversee client services and retention of placements for Launch clients.