October 25, 2024
Six members of private aviation flight providers have been named to the National Business Aviation Association’s 40 under 40 list for 2023.
Six members of private aviation flight providers have been named to the National Business Aviation Association’s 40 under 40 list for 2023.
According to NBAA, this year drew a record number of nominations.
The following winners represent flight providers: fractional, jet card, aircraft management, and on-demand charter companies.
John Geary started as an air ambulance pilot without a long-term career plan.
He joined Silverhawk Aviation in 2015 and never looked back.
He says hard work, a good team, and being in the right place at the right time helped him move through roles as training manager, chief pilot, director of operations, and now CEO and co-owner of the company.
Silverhawk currently has more than 20 aircraft and over 100 employees.
Stephanie Goetz is a Citation Latitude pilot with NetJets.
She was a TV news and sports anchor covering a story on aviation when she took her first flight lesson.
When her (now) husband introduced her to business aviation in a Citation I Stallion, she was hooked on private aviation.
She left the television studio and traded a chair at the anchor desk for a seat on the flight deck.
Patrick McGuire was in safety management with an airline when the initial COVID-driven airline traffic downturn led him to a position at Jet Linx Aviation.
There, he worked in safety assurance and auditing processes, realizing there was a lot of great opportunity to apply those same safety practices to the business aviation space.
Now, he is the lead on almost all aspects of the company’s safety program.
Business aviation appealed to Justin Shive from the very beginning of his career.
He saw it as a uniquely challenging sector of aviation requiring the continual refinement of a diverse range of skills.
Currently, he flies privately owned and managed Challenger 300 aircraft for Flexjet, Inc.’s sister company, Corporate Wings.
Shive’s career has taken him all over the world, and today, he is an NBAA Certified Aviation Manager, and he focuses on maintaining high standards for himself and for Corporate Wings.
Myrthe Simons has turned his passion for customer service into a career in private aviation.
From an internship with Clay Lacy Aviation, she has now ventured into a variety of roles.
She began her career working in the aircraft management division, providing research, analysis, and support in various sales and operations projects.
Simons parlayed that experience for the director of aircraft management role she currently holds.
Madie Wehrly discovered her passion for business aviation at the age of 16 while working line service at her local FBO.
She later attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with internships at Textron Aviation, leading to a full-time role upon graduation.
An opening in aircraft sales moved her to Nashville, and in 2020, Wehrly took on a new challenge as a vice president of charter sales with NetJets’ Executive Jet Management unit.
She also serves as the chair of the Tennessee Business Aviation Association
See the full list of 40 under 40 honorees.
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