Speakers

Luc has joined Airbus Helicopters in September 2017 to lead the Marketing and Sales Development activities, including Asset Management and Airbus Corporate Helicopters business.
With an extensive background in international markets for more than 20 years, Luc Bentolila is an entrepreneur who has worked in various industries and held General Management position in Defence and Aerospace sector.

Profile coming soon.

Allan Blake was a Director at Bristow Helicopters for 17 years his last position being Regional Director of Asia Pacific operations based in Australia where he was responsible for 50 aircraft, including helicopter and fixed wing operations from Australia through to Sakhalin Island in Russia. His previous roles included Chairman of Bristow’s military joint venture with Cobham, FB Heliservices, and HR Director. Prior to joining Bristow Allan was a Management Consultant at PA Consulting, Dean of Leeds Business School, Head of Law at Preston Poytechnic and a member of the Legal Aid Board. He has written extensively on aviation in his current role as an independent aviation journalist & consultant and is the author of several management books including ‘Dynamic Directors: Aligning Board Structure for Business Success’ (1999/2014 Macmillan).
http://helihub.com/?p=124866

Stéphanie Bonnefoy-Fourie is leading the Connected Services Department at Airbus Helicopters. Her team is in charge of digitalizing helicopter operational environments and creating value out of the data collected from the Aircraft so as to develop new services for operators and/or lessors. Her department is acting like a start up within Airbus.

For the past ten years, she has been an active change maker in new ways of working. She created the first Living Lab in the company to accelerate the company Transformation. This has enabled to introduce new projects, new skills, new development methodologies as well as an external ecosystem. Projects lead time have been reduced from nine months to four months and double the productivity of Project Managers and experts.

Previously, she worked for Price Waterhouse Coopers as a Business Consultant in Information System and Supply Chain Management.

She continued her career in Unilever as head of Africa & Middle east region as Category Planning Director.

Profile coming soon.

Nicolas was appointed VP, Marketing and Sales, Helicopter Engines at Pratt&Whitbney Canada in December 2017.
In his current role, Nicolas provides inclusive leadership and guides the development of aggressive strategies to expand P&WC’s helicopter market activities. This means acting as executive liaison with the global community of small, medium and large helicopter operators, defining and coordinating product concepts and establishing product design and development requirements. Nicolas also leads the product marketing and sales activities for the company’s helicopter segment and provides executive level contact with helicopter Original Equipment Operators (OEMs).
Nicolas joined P&WC in 2006 with 7 years’ experience with Dassault Aviation. He assumed positions of increasing responsibility within the Customer Service organization at P&WC serving for 5 years as General Manager for Helicopter Programs before being appointed Director, APU Marketing & Customer Service in February 2016.
Nicolas holds a masters’s degree in engineering from École Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique in France and a Master in Business Administration from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University in England.

Ben manages the UK team of valuations analysts at Flight Ascend Consultancy and is a helicopter and commercial aircraft appraiser and market analyst. He is an International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading Certified Appraiser and has spent the past three years specialising in meeting the appraisal and analysis demands of the growing helicopter finance and leasing market, in which he continues to regularly write research papers and market updates.

Stephen joined Macquarie in 1986 and has taken a leading role in developing and implementing structured asset transactions for Macquarie globally. He lead the Bank offshore in the early 90’s, and was responsible for establishing Macquarie’s operations in London.

In 2005 Stephen transformed what had been a significant advisor / arranger practice into a start up principal business initially focussed on Aircraft. In 2006 Stephen led the acquisition of the assets of GATX's Air business. This enabled establishment of a fully functional Aircraft operating lease business, Macquarie AirFinance.

Macquarie currently has over 200 aircraft on its balance sheet, of which 90% are in production narrow body types (A320 / 737-800’s). They are leased into over 40 jurisdictions.

In 2011 Stephen moved from Macquarie Capital to Macquarie Bank to consolidate all the Groups holdings across Air, Rail, Shipping, Helicopters and Engines and further develop this segment of the Banks business.

Tony was appointed as Shell’s VP Aircraft and Managing Director Shell Aircraft in May 2016.

With Shell since in 2003, he has global experience in the contracting of aircraft and operators for oil and gas operations, undertaking assurance and air accident investigations and providing specialist advice to Shell’s extensive business stakeholder group. Championing initiatives to enable safe and efficient operations in some of the most diverse and challenging environments, he has work closely with OEMs on aircraft design specifications and represents the Company on several industry and national regulatory bodies.

Prior to joining Shell, he served 19yrs in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor, commanded a Naval Air Squadron and a Warship and served as the media spokesman for overseas military operations.

David Crick is an Accredited Senior Appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). He serves as the Machinery & Technical Specialties Discipline Governor on the ASA International Board of Governors and is the recent President of the ASA Australian Chapter. He also serves as the Chair on the Finance & Leasing Committee of the Helicopter Association International.

David is the Managing Director of the DavAir Group, an Australian company providing international aviation inspection, appraisal and advisory services.

He has an unparalleled passion for the aviation sector performing appraisals of both fixed wing & rotary aviation assets in Australia, the Asia Pacific Rim, the USA and various countries in Europe & the Middle East.

With over 20 years of specialised valuation and consulting experience to many different sectors, David has considerable knowledge of corporate valuation requirements for financial reporting, mortgage security assessments, insurance & liquidation disposals. He performs appraisals for finance and leasing, aviation sales, mergers and acquisitions, insurance disputes, and expert witness for the legal fraternity.

David has presented at various international forums addressing current issues in aviation assets and appraisal methodologies, including events in the UK, USA, Russia, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. He also lectures at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the USA on Aircraft Appraisal methodology and processes as well as teaching Aircraft Appraisal courses in London, UK.

Sharon Desfor, ASA, is president of HeliValue$, Inc., the world’s most trusted helicopter appraisal firm, and publisher of The Official Helicopter Blue Book®, the accepted standard for helicopter resale pricing information.
Sharon is an Accredited Senior Appraiser of the ASA, currently serving as ASA’s International Secretary/Treasurer. She has previously served on the Board of Governors, Strategic Planning Committee, Machinery & Technical Specialties Committee, International Special Committee, Budget & Finance Committee and Chapter Assessment Task Force, as Editor of the M&TS Journal and as Production Manager of Valuing Machinery and Equipment, Third Edition. Sharon is past Chair of the Helicopter Foundation International and of the HAI’s Finance & Leasing Committee, and served as Editor of HAI’s finance handbook, Helicopter Funding: Assembling the Pieces of the Puzzle.
Sharon performs appraisals for finance and leasing, helicopter acquisitions and sales, bankruptcies, estate settlements, mergers and acquisitions, insurance subrogation, and litigation support. She mostly enjoys teaching finance people about the helicopter industry and helicopter people about the finance industry. Sharon gives lectures regularly for ASA, Corporate Jet Investor (CJI), and the Helicopter Association International (HAI), occasionally for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) and the National Aircraft Finance Association (NAFA), and writes articles for a number of magazines in the aviation and appraisal industries. She is a vigorous advocate for professionalism in appraising, and an outspoken participant in appraisers’ forums on LinkedIn. You can find her profile and groups at www.linkedin.com/in/sharondesfor.

Emmanuel heads the Avpro helicopter division and is Avpro’s Leonardo-Finmeccanica market specialist. Emmanuel began his aircraft sales career over a decade ago; founding Heli Asset in 2011 and joining forces with Avpro in 2013 thus creating the world’s leading independent helicopter sales and acquisition company. Emmanuel is fluent in both English and French.

Joined the RAF on leaving school and passed through the University of Glasgow with first class honours in Aeronautical Engineering and an academic year prize, as an Acting Pilot Officer or sponsored student on the RAF University Cadetship scheme.  While an undergraduate I was attached to the local University Air Squadron where I under took elementary flying training and finally was Mess President.  While studying I did flight testing  at Prestwick aerodrome as part of the course; my final year project was aerodynamic study of a scale model racing car and the effect of a tail fin on its performance.  Leaving academia I served in the RAF for five years.  My flying career was cut short due to injuries sustained in road traffic indent.  I worked at City University, London, following this as Course Director of their BSc (Hons) Air Transport Operations while also lecturing engineering maths to the first years.   I also took part initially as a student in the MSc in Air Transport Management.  I undertook a research program as part of the course, into the Boeing 777 and its competitive rivalry with the Airbus 330/340 development.  Following significant experience in military aviation and then time in academia, I joined IBA Group as an Aviation Analyst.

Since joining IBA in 2015 in the consultancy and advisory team, I have worked on helicopter appraisals and commercial aviation advisory projects.  Business development, meeting and speaking to clients and customers at various high profile industry events, it also an important function of my role: LCI Helicopters and Milestone Aviation are IBA clients, and valuable sources of industry intel come from our relationship with OEMs such as Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo Helicopters.

Profile coming soon.

Mr. Fessenden was named president and chief executive officer of CHC Helicopter and a board member of its parent company, CHC Group, in February 2015. He came to CHC from GE, where over 20 years he amassed a track record of strong leadership in building industrial-services businesses, as well as process discipline around resource and capital allocation. Mr. Fessenden successfully led multiple global-service business units at GE Energy and GE Aviation. Most recently he directed GE’s integration of the Alstom power-generation business, the largest acquisition in GE’s history. Prior to that, Mr. Fessenden managed GE’s $8 billion Power Generation Services unit, the largest industrial-services business at GE. His background includes 15 years in the aviation sector with GE and Pratt & Whitney.

William is the Manging Director of Oaklands Global, a specialist Aviation & Aerospace recruitment consultancy. He has over ten years industry experience and has successfully placed hundreds of professionals across the fixed-wing and rotary markets throughout his career.

Prior to founding Oaklands Global in 2013, William was as a hands-on recruiter focusing on the international Engineering & Flight Crew recruitment markets. Today, other than strategically growing Oaklands Global, William provides consultative services to Clients on overcoming key industry skillset shortages and planning for the future.

David Fiore is the Deputy Vice President of the Transportation Division of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (“Ex-Im Bank”). The Transportation Division is responsible for Ex-Im Bank supported financings of large commercial aircraft, business aircraft, helicopters and railroad-related equipment.

In addition to his responsibilities assisting the Vice President of the Transportation Division in managing the workload of the Transportation Division, David is also responsible for aircraft financings for a number of airlines based in Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean region. He has been involved with Ex-Im Bank supported financings for such airlines as Ethiopian Airlines, TAAG-Angola Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Cargolux and Norwegian Air Shuttle. In addition to his airline responsibilities, David is the lead loan officer responsible for Ex-Im Bank’s financings of U.S.-manufactured locomotives and rolling stock to railroads located in various countries including South Africa, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia.

David has a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a Masters of Business Administration from McGill University in Montreal. David is fluent in French and Italian.

David is a Managing Director in Seabury Groups Corporate Advisory practice.  He has 22 years investment banking experience, leading assignments in over 30 countries, including aircraft financing & trading, restructuring and M&A. Mr. Fowkes was a senior capital markets banker for Salomon Brothers and Citigroup, covered Industrials for Lehman Brothers and was a senior member of Deutsche Bank’s special situations group. His clients at Seabury have included Air Canada, Alaska, Etihad, ILFC, MAXJet, Northwest, Republic, Spirit, US Airways and CHC Group.

Prior to re-joining, David’s financing, restructuring, M&A and aviation & leasing clients included GA Telesis, Blue Air, SriLankan and private equity and start-up leasing companies. He gained helicopter experience as Director of M&A and Integration for Bristow Group where he led the acquisition & integration of 2 airlines (Eastern Airways and Airnorth), the sale of 2 JVs (FBH and HCA) and focused on restructuring JVs including in Russia, Nigeria and Trinidad.

David received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his MBA in finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Roberto Garavaglia is a graduate of the Milan Polytechnic where he earned a Master in Aeronautical Engineering.

Currently he is SVP Competitive Analysis & Strategy of Leonardo - Helicopter Division, the leading helicopter OEM which employs about 13,000 people worldwide with the main industrial activities concentrated in Italy, UK, Poland and the USA.

He became SVP Marketing of AgustaWestland in 2010 and he held that position until June 2013. In July 2003 he was appointed to lead the AgustaWestland Marketing, where he and his Italy and UK-based teams contributed to product definition user segment development and sales achievements in both civil and military competitive markets.

In December 1998, he joined Agusta SpA and held a position as area manager for civil sales covering several Central and Northern European countries.

Between June 1991 and December 1998 he worked for ATR, the regional aircraft manufacturer in Toulouse (France), holding several posts in Marketing and Sales, eventually leading the Airline Marketing team. During the Aero International (Regional) JV period between ATR and Avro/Jestream (1995-1998), he was also involved in the prelaunch project definition, business planning and marketing activity of the AI(R)JET regional jet programme.

In 1989 he joined an Aero Engineering, an aeronautical design Company in Milan, dealing with systems and structural analysis and design on several civil and military aircraft programmes. Before that time, he spent one year as an officer in the Italian Air Force.

Alain was appointed in November 2015 as Global Accounts Director – Transportation Group, with the responsibility to manage the relationship between Export Development Canada (EDC) and some of the largest companies that are active in the Aerospace sector, both in Canada and internationally.

Alain joined EDC in 1987 as a financing underwriter and structured loans in various sectors such as: oil and gas, power and telecom. He was involved with transactions in many countries including: Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, China and the USA. He also held senior relationship management positions in the Extractive and Automotive sectors with leading Canadian and global companies. From 2010-13, he was based in Panama as EDC’s Chief Representative for Central America and the Caribbean.

Mr. Gross has 30 years of experience representing bank-affiliated and large, independent equipment financing companies in all aspects of equipment finance transactions, including documenting, structuring, negotiating, syndicating and enforcing these transactions. Mr. Gross is considered an industry leader in business aircraft and helicopter finance. These transactions vary in structure and include tax and non-tax lease, operating lease and secured loan financing of managed and /or chartered aircraft, fleet aircraft and helicopters operated in various service capacities and engine pools, aircraft operated under fractional and “pay card” arrangements and progress payment, completion and other multi-funding structures. Clients include market-leading aircraft and helicopter financing providers, investors or operating lessors, as well as large publicly or privately held businesses, governmental entities or high-net-worth individual users. Many of these transactions involve foreign registered aircraft.

Steve Hanna is currently the Chairman/CEO of Protective Packaging Corporation located in Carrollton, a suburb of Dallas, Texas.

The company was initially a division of an International Freight Forwarding company reporting to Mr. Hanna that helped package  freight that was being shipped around the world. Steve had the opportunity to acquire this division as the freight forwarding company was being sold.

Twenty years later Protective Packaging Corporation has grown to become one of the industry’s leader in providing long term packaging solutions for the prevention of corrosion, mold, mildew, static electricity and other airborne qualities. The company is one of the first as well as one of the few in its industry with a current ISO Certification.

Protective Packaging Company’s major customers include Boeing, Bell, Pratt Whitney, United Technologies, GE, NASA, Timken, American Airlines, L3, Lockheed-Martin, Rolls-Royce, Raytheon, Bristow, ERA, Babcock, Vector, Space X, Northrop Grumman, Turbomecca, and the U.S. military to name a few.

 Protective Packaging’s success is based on their ability to provide custom made packaging applications that are capable of controlling the atmosphere around the part regardless of its size or location. Yet, at the same time be the most efficient and economical solution available on the market. Be it the F-35 Joint Stryke Fighter being shipped around the world for testing, a commercial aircraft engine sitting out on tarmacs for long periods of time, or entire helicopter fleets that must be protected from all the elements while they are grounded in harsh conditions.

Gretchen Haskins is the CEO of HeliOffshore Ltd., a company dedicated to global offshore helicopter safety. She is an aviation industry leader in safety performance improvement and an internationally-recognised expert in human factors.

She has served on the board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority as Group Director of Safety, guiding aviation safety in the UK (including airlines, aerodromes, air traffic, airworthiness and personnel). Prior to that, Gretchen was Group Director of Safety at NATS where she championed activities to support frontline operational safety. Gretchen previously worked in nuclear certification and safety of intercontinental ballistic missiles, joint airworthiness trials for military aircraft, defence system design—and as an expert advisor to NATO on human performance and safety critical systems. She has a strong aviation background, and has flown jet and piston aircraft in the U.S. Air Force.

Profile coming soon.

Profile coming soon.

Jason joined the HeliValue$ team in 2009 after serving the in the United States Marine Corp for ten years.  While serving Jason worked as a mechanic on various models of airplanes and helicopters such as the F/A 18, C-130, T-34, CH-46, CH-53, and UH-1N, reaching the rank of Sergeant and becoming a Quality Assurance Inspector serving in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In the seven years, Jason has been part of the HeliValue$ team, he has risen from Staff Analyst to Chief Appraiser and now holds the position of VP Operations.  He is editor of The Official Helicopter Blue Book® and responsible for a growing team of appraisers.  His responsibilities include consulting with financers, lenders, private equity firms, operators, OEM’s and Insurance companies on the state of the market as well as its opportunities in the market.  Jason is an Accredited Senior Appraiser in the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), holding accreditations in both Machinery & Equipment and Aircraft Specific designations.

Appointed in 2017, Frederic Lemos is Head of Airbus Corporate Helicopters, a role that sees him lead the company's offering to the Private and Business aviation market.

Frederic has a 15 years’ experience in the helicopter industry having served in various leadership positions in Latin America and Europe for Airbus Helicopters.

Frederic is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Frederic holds a Master’s degree in International Business Development Management from NEOMA Business School, France.

Profile coming soon.

Profile coming soon.

Mr. Lowe has over 30 years of Engineering, Marketing and Sales experience in commercial and business aviation. His most recent position is as Managing Director for the Asian Sky Group in Hong Kong. Asian Sky is a new pan-Asian, business aviation consulting group focusing on both fixed and rotary aircraft and related aviation services. Asian Sky is a company backed by SEACOR Capital (Asia) Limited and Avion Pacific Limited and is designed to capitalize on both of these companies considerable investments and business development initiatives in the Asia Pacific region.

Having resided in Hong Kong since 1997, Lowe specializes in the Greater China business aviation market. He first came to Hong Kong as a Director of Sales for Asia-Pacific for the Bombardier Aerospace Business Aircraft Division. He was then appointed Regional Vice President of Sales for North Asia including the Philippines by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in May 2000 where he was a top sales executive. In 2007 Lowe joined the recently formed BAA Jet Management Limited and was responsible for establishing and expanding its managed aircraft business plus aircraft sales, marketing and project development.
Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Lowe worked in commercial aviation for the de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada, Boeing Canada, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the Canadair Regional Jet Division and Bombardier’s Regional Aircraft Division. Lowe began his career as a Ground Test Engineer and then moved into marketing and sales internationally in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Lowe earned a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1983. He is a Canadian native, married with 2 children.

Crispin Maunder is the Executive Chairman of Lease Corporation International, the aircraft and helicopter lessor, having joined the lessor as Chief Executive Officer eight years ago.

Crispin has over 40 years experience in aviation. Graduating from Imperial College with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering he entered Court Line Aviation, then the leading UK charter airline. In 1974 he joined the marketing team at British Aircraft Corporation concentrating on the BAC One-Eleven programme. This was then followed by a period working in the Middle East and Africa with Autair Limited, a helicopter operator and aviation trader, as Commercial Manager, representing a number of aircraft and helicopter OEM’s.

In 1977 he joined Short Brothers to head up their sales efforts in Africa and the Middle East, subsequently adding European Sales to his responsibilities in 1983. In 1986 he was appointed General Manager, Aircraft Trading Division, charged with the establishment of Shorts’ new leasing and trading operations in advance of the privatization of the company.

Crispin left Shorts in 1989 to join Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS) as Regional Sales Director Europe, before being appointed in 1991 as EVP Sales and Marketing, heading up the lessor’s global sales and marketing activities. In 1997 he assumed additional responsibility for technical oversight of AWAS’s aircraft portfolio. Following the acquisition of the lessor by Morgan Stanley in 2000, he joined the AWAS Holdings Board, and in 2002 he was appointed EVP Strategic Development, charged with the development of the lessor’s new strategic plan ahead of its eventual sale to Terra Firma in 2006. 

Clark McGinn joined Waypoint as SVP, Sales & Relationship Management in April 2015 with over ten years’ experience with helicopters having executed around USD 5Bn in mandates across the sector. He was previously Managing Director of CHC's global aviation finance group in Dublin, building an inter-disciplinary team which executed the complex leasing and finance strategy for one of the largest civilian helicopter operators including the first significant transactions with the new generation of helicopter operating lessors, including Waypoint.

He joined CHC after a near thirty year career in corporate and investment banking in London and New York, latterly managing helicopter asset finance for RBS, where he executed many of the biggest and most complex structured debt, operating lease and M&A financings in the civil rotary wing sector. Before joining RBS in 1994 he held management positions in the corporate banking groups of Bank of America and Hill Samuel & Co, having completed his graduate training with Lloyds Bank.

Clark is a regular contributor to the debate around helicopter finance and leasing as a presenter and panellist at conferences arranged by Corporate Jet and Helicopter and others.

He is also known as a speaker and writer about Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns and has published several books on Burns and on the history of financial crisis, including ‘The Ultimate Burns Supper Book’ and ‘Out of Pocket’ (Luath Press). He is an active supporter of the development campaigns of the University of Glasgow (for which he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship) and of the charitable activities of The English-Speaking Union.

He holds an MA (Hons) degree in Philosophy and a PhD in Scottish Literature from the University of Glasgow, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Profile coming soon.

Profile coming soon.

Patrick Moulay was named Executive Vice President of Commercial Sales and Marketing in June 2016 and is a member of Bell Helicopter’s Executive Leadership Team.

In his current role, Patrick is responsible for leading sales and marketing strategies around the globe, working with the global sales team to promote Bell Helicopter’s current and next generation commercial products. In 2016, the Commercial Sales and Marketing organization was separated from Commercial Programs to focus on global sales and marketing opportunities for current and future generation aircraft.

Since joining Bell Helicopter in 2011, Patrick has served in several leadership roles including Managing Director and Acting Vice President for Europe and Russia where he was responsible for driving the sales force in the region and defining the regional Bell Helicopter development strategy. His team serves customers across the globe with industry leading products like the Bell 429 and the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X.

Moulay began his career in the helicopter industry in 1996 as Commercial Director in Australian Aerospace, responsible for Commercial Helicopter Sales in Australia and New Zealand. In 2000, he began his role as the Head of the Commercial Department at Helisim, Simulator Training Academy in charge of the development of simulator training activities worldwide.

He joined Eurocopter South East Asia in 2004, as Vice President of Customer Relations, spearheading the sales and after-sales department for the South East Asia region. During his seven years in South East Asia, he secured exponential increase in revenue for the company and made significant breakthroughs into Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand for governmental and oil & gas markets.

Moulay holds a Master’s degree in Business and Marketing from the EUROMED Management School in Marseilles, France.

Joined ITC as part of management in 2008 and brought her strong finance background to allow for the group’s further growth. Mirika Nakayama plays an essential role in providing strategy and vision for ITC. She has increased ITC’s presence as a lessor in Latin America and Asia. Before joining ITC, she was a Vice President at Deutsche Bank in Japan and New York. While at Deutsche Bank, she brought more than $5 billion of securities to market.

Geoff Packer is the CEO of HeliSpeed, a company he founded in 2009.

After a long and successful career as a chief pilot and training captain for large fleet helicopter operators around the globe, Geoff saw an opportunity to optimize the relationship between contract pilots and helicopter owners or operators. He started HeliSpeed with a simple goal in mind: to make life easier for both pilots and operators, allowing pilots to focus on flying, while providing safe and cost-effective staffing solutions to operators.

Geoff is an outspoken and innovative entrepreneur with a passion for helicopters, constantly in search of new or growing rotary wing applications. In addition to establishing HeliSpeed as the go-to provider for pilot staffing, Geoff is often called on to act as an expert in the context of court litigations involving helicopters.

Charlotte Pedersen is a Danish national with more than 25 years of experience in aviation. She was the first female to enter the prestigious military pilot program in the Danish Air Force in 1989 when the Armed Forces accepted female applicants to the program for the first time. Charlotte was trained as a military Search and Rescue pilot on the S-61 helicopter. She continued her career attending the Officers Academy and occupying several higher staff positions,- all in the area of safety and survival training, amongst others, being responsible for Helicopter Safety Equipment and Training, Instructor in the Water Survival Programme for military flight crews and HUET Underwater Instructor as well as Instructor for Medical Personnel Operational Training (Open Water hoist Training).

After her military services, Charlotte joined the Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) in Luxembourg as a Flight Operations Inspector for both Helicopters and Fixed Wing. During this period, she also participated on a volunteer basis for the European Aviation Safety Agency in working groups focusing on Helicopter Safety (EHSIT) and Human Factors (EHFAG).

Charlotte joined Luxaviation in 2012 and was nominated Chief Operating Officer of the Luxaviation Group in 2014.

In 2016 Charlotte Pedersen was promoted to CEO of Luxaviation Helicopters which is part of the Luxaviation Group.

Charlotte holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance and Strategic Management.

Olivier founded the NOVA CAPITAL Group in 2002, a privately owned investment and advisory group of companies fully dedicated to asset finance.
Acting as group CEO, Olivier turned the NOVA CAPITAL HELICOPTERS division into a leading globally recognized helicopter lessor with a proven 16 years track-record within the industry. With a current fleet of 78 helicopters (including 3 on order), the company has reached a total fleet value of circa 300 M$ as at 2017 year-end. NOVA CAPITAL HELICOPTERS is a unique full service and highly adaptable leasing platform, exclusively dedicated to the on-shore helicopter services industry.
Prior to the inception of NOVA CAPITAL Group, Olivier held some senior management positions within a leading French banking institution, including among others, Senior Vice President and head of Structured Asset Finance practice. He headed a team of professionals in charge of sourcing, structuring, and managing complex asset finance transactions in various sectors such as aviation, shipping, rail, energy, and real estate, mostly using optimized structured leasing solutions.
Olivier started his career at the Paris Bar, working as a qualified lawyer with a US Law firm, specializing in asset finance transactions.
Olivier graduated from Institut d’Etudes Politques de Paris (IEP Paris). He holds a postgraduate degree in business and tax law from University of Paris II and was subsequently admitted to the Paris Bar. Olivier was also a lecturer at University of Paris IX-Dauphine for several years, and is a regular contributor at some major asset finance and leasing events.

Mike brings LCI over 20 years’ experience in the aircraft leasing industry, including three years at Aircastle as Chief Investment Officer, 15 at International Lease Finance Corporation where he rose to Senior Vice President and three years at McDonnell Douglas Finance Corporation where he served as legal counsel. He is also a former President of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) and serves on the Board of the ISTAT Foundation and the Advisory Board of Airlink.

Profile coming soon.

Gerald Robert has 20+ years plus experience in international sales and marketing with 10 years in aircraft sales and acquisitions.
He joined Freestream Aircraft Ltd in 2012 which is one of the largest worldwide sales and acquisition companies in that industry.
Gerald is specialising in helicopters and turboprops. He is an Accredited Senior Appraiser, Machines and Technical Specialties – Aircraft with the ASA (American Society of Appraisers) and a Senior Aircraft Appraiser with the NAAA (National Aircraft Appraisers Association).
He has a Master’s degree in International Economics from the Grenoble University, France with a further specialization in international trade. He is fluent in French and English, proficient in German and Spanish, and speaks some basic Russian and Mandarin.

Michael Roberts founded what would become aircraft brokerage Jetvend in 2007 with a single client order to sell eight Lockheed JetStars. From there, he expanded into other mid size jet sales and helicopter sales, import and export. Since that time, his clients have included, US and international real estate developers, Helicopter operators with utility, mining, construction and oil contracts, Food and drink manufacturers, Aircraft maintenance companies, Aerial Photography, Car dealers, Owners of hospitals / clinics, Casino operators, Trucking / transportation / warehousing companies, and Sports team owners. Prior to starting aircraft sales Michael also worked as an Air Traffic Controller, and various sales and sales management positions including living and working in Japan for several years. Mr. Roberts is fluent in Spanish as a second language, an avid world traveler, and a graduate of Samford University in Mountain Brook, Alabama in Public Administration, 1994. In 2017, he also founded Fleet Aero, LLC along with partners to focus on revenue generating utility and charter aircraft fleet building.

Daniel Rosenthal is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Milestone Aviation, overseeing sales, finance, operations and strategy for the global leader in helicopter leasing.

Dan served most recently as Executive Vice President in the NetJets Inc. Office of the Chairman, where he was responsible for oversight of and accountability for multiple departments, including planning and logistics, owner and employee services, shared IT, and government relations and corporate responsibility. In this position, he led negotiations for multi‐year collective bargaining agreements with pilots and mechanics; spearheaded a major owner sales and retention initiative; negotiated a large economic development incentive package; and established a closer working relationship among NetJets U.S. operating companies and NetJets Europe, which resulted in efficiencies valued at tens of millions of dollars. Prior to his time at NetJets, Dan worked as an attorney at Williams and Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C.

Dan is active in community and civic groups. He serves on the board of The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute Foundation, is a member of the Columbus Partnership and has been the chairman of the board of Pelotonia since its inception in 2008. Pelotonia has become the second‐largest run/walk/ride fundraiser in the United States, and its riders have raised more than $130 million in eight years, 100% of which goes directly to cancer research at the OSU‐CCC. Dan previously served as chairman of Mayor Coleman’s JET Task Force related to airline service and economic development. Dan also served as a member of the Ohio Business Roundtable and was an inaugural co‐chair of Columbus 2020!, the Partnership’s ground‐breaking economic development effort.

A graduate of Yale University, Dan holds a BA in history and international studies, and a JD magna cum laude from Duke University School of Law. He is fluent in Spanish.

Florence ROUSSEL POLLET has joined SGEF, the Equipment Finance subsidiary of Société Générale (SGEF) in October 2016 as Head of Business Operations within the Sales department.
Since October 2017, she has taken over the position of Global Head of Structured Finance and Aviation.
Her previous roles include Managing Director in SG Investment bank in the Structured Solutions and Leasing team in charge of financial engineering solutions for corporate clients in France and Deputy Head of Aircraft Finance for Commercial Aviation. She has been extensively involved in the financing of over 150 aircraft financed for airlines and large operating lessors through French, German or US tax leases, Japanese operating leases, multi-source export credits or syndicated debt facilities.
She graduated ESSEC, one of the leading French graduate schools of Management and holds a Master in Business Law.

Mr. Schechter is responsible for lessee credit underwriting as well as managing valuation, strategic and transactional initiatives for Waypoint. Marc has six years of experience in the aviation industry. Prior to joining Waypoint, Marc was a Vice President at Era Group where he led new business development and managed joint ventures in Brazil and Australia. Prior to Era, Marc was an associate at SEACOR Holdings Inc. conducting a broad array of financial analysis, and a consultant in the tax practice at KPMG. Marc has a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from UCLA.

Ms. Seward is a Senior Analyst with Morten Beyer & Agnew’s Asset Valuations Group. In this role, Ms. Seward acts as Project Manager for the firm’s Helicopter consultancy division. She is responsible for preparing aircraft, helicopter, and engine appraisals, performing market research and analysis, modeling value trends, and calculating future values, as well as projected or remaining economic useful lives of various aviation assets.

Ms. Seward began her career in aviation with the Northumbrian University Air Squadron in Yorkshire, UK, as a Royal Air Force Officer Cadet, flying the Grob 115E aircraft. She continued her career working for a European consulting firm, focusing on rotor-wing aircraft. Her experience includes research and analysis of the helicopter industry, market values, benchmarking, and modeling; primarily focused on medium, super-medium, and heavy helicopter sectors used in a range of missions. She is a graduate of Durham University, UK, with an honors degree in Biomedical Science.

Pat Sheedy leads the Risk, Underwriting and Portfolio Management function at Milestone Aviation. Pat has 18 years of international financial services experience. He trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte in Ireland and London, where he spent four years in a number of roles including In Audit and Assurance, Corporate Finance and Corporate Recovery, prior to joining GE in 2004. Pat has spent the majority of his GE career working in Aviation Risk Management with a particular focus on Emerging Markets. Prior to his current role, he held the position of Senior Vice President and Regional Risk Manager for GECAS in Dubai, covering a $10bn portfolio in the Middle East, Africa and Russia. In addition to his role with Milestone, he also has overall risk responsibility for GE Engine Leasing and GECAS’ cargo business. Pat obtained his Bachelor of Business Studies Degree from University Of Limerick, Ireland and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

WILLIAM STURM is a business aviation specialist who has experience in all facets of the helicopter industry. He has managed aircraft fleets for major international companies and as a consultant has assisted both companies and individuals in acquiring and selling more than $500 million worth of aircraft in all corners of the globe. To discuss the Airbus markets in detail, please contact William at [email protected].

Ed Underwood, president of Avsurance Corporation, and vice president and risk manager of Avfuel Corporation, has been in the aviation insurance industry since 1980. He holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation conferred in 1984 and the Certified Insurance Counselor designation conferred in 1995. Underwood received a bachelor’s degree from Colby College.
Prior to his appointment as president of Avsurance Corporation in 1991, Underwood was vice president of the Rockwood Company in Chicago, Illinois.
Avsurance Corporation is a specialty Aviation Insurance Broker and a wholly owned subsidiary of Avfuel Corporation. Avsurance is licensed in all 50 states and places coverage for more than 300 aviation accounts throughout the world. The agency practice includes Part 121 cargo operators, Part 135 fleets, fixed based operators, maintenance facilities, component part manufacturers and more than 200 turbine Part 91 aircraft. Specializing in US registered foreign-owned aircraft.

Alexander von Plato is the Managing Director and Accountable Manager of WIKING Helikopter Service, a helicopter operator servicing the offshore wind market in Germany und UK with its main base in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
After having worked in the sales department for Fr. Lürssen Werft, the leading shipyard building mega yachts and naval vessels, Alexander joined WIKING in 2011 as the Head of Sales and Marketing. Shortly after joining the company Alexander became the Managing Director overseeing flight operations, sales & marketing as well as finance and controlling. In the last 6 years WIKING became one of the leading service providers for the offshore wind sector in Germany giving hoisting, crew change and HEMS service to the industry as well as hoisting services to the sea pilots which the company was founded for 42 years ago. In 2017 WIKING will entered the UK offshore wind market by winning a Siemens tender. Therefore, a base will be set up in Harwich to transfer service technicians to the wind turbines of Galloper wind farm by hoist with the new Airbus H145 helicopter.
Alexander holds a diploma in mechanical engineering and business administration of the Technische Universität Berlin.

Ed is the CEO and founder of Waypoint and has over 20 years of experience in the offshore oil and gas and helicopter industries. Prior to Waypoint, Ed was CEO of Era Group Inc. (NYSE: ERA), formerly the helicopter subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings (NYSE: CKH). Over the course of a decade, Ed built SEACOR's initial small seed investment in helicopters to more than US$710 million in helicopter assets through organic growth and acquisition. Era’s 800+ employees operated and supported more than 175 helicopters in the US, Australia, Brazil, India and other major markets. While leading Era's helicopter operating business, Ed pioneered Era Leasing, which grew to encompass over 45 medium and heavy helicopters leased to operators in more than a dozen countries worldwide.

Ed is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Business School.

Profile coming soon

Ray Weiser is an aviation industry professional with over 38 years of experience in various elements of rotary and fixed-wing operations.  A US Army helicopter Crew Chief and veteran, Ray has extensive corporate and commercial experience in aircraft maintenance, operations, and technical services. Throughout Ray's career, he has accumulated more than 13 years of OEM experience with Turbomeca as a technical representative, and Rolls-Royce as a Regional Manager.  Ray also has extensive MRO experience, spending 8 years with Vector Aerospace. In addition to holding his A&P license with Inspection Authorization, Ray has a myriad of OEM factory approved technical training certifications for both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. Ray has experience with FAR Part-91, Part -135, and Part-145 operations and has even supported the FAA and NTSB through accident investigation. Most recently, he served as a VP of Sales and Business Development for an FAA Part-145 Helicopter Repair Station. Ray also aids airborne law enforcement as a Technical Advisor and through selfless dedication to voluntarily helping his community, he was awarded the honor of Special Deputy through the Niagara County Sheriff's Department. He has bought, sold, owned, operated and maintained aircraft of all types and currently serves as JSSI”s Helicopter Program Specialist in support of their global fleet.  Ray currently serves the Helicopter Association International as a member of the Technical Committee. 

Simon's career in aviation spans a wide range of roles across most aspects of the operating side of the industry. A BSc(Hons) graduate in Avionics from Queen Mary College, University of London, he initially worked in technical/engineering roles and developed up to Board level. This included spells with Bristow Helicopters, Racal Avionics (Decca), the UK CAA (in flight test and transport aeroplane certification (including responsibility for the Boeing 777 project)) Air UK
and British Regional/Manx. He was heavily involved in the Human Factors and early Safety Management work.

Latterly, he broadened his career to include the accountability for and the running of all of the operational aspects of an airline at board level in the Chief Operating Officer role for British Airways CitiExpress/BA Connect. After the merger of BA Connect with Flybe, Simon created, developed and implemented the Flybe Academy.

Simon has held many airline executive board positions and on a Sector Skills Council. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management, Freeman of the Honourable Company of Coachmakers and Chair of Trustees for the International Federation of Airworthiness.

Since graduating from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1991, Bill Wolf has been an investment banker and financial advisor with Goldman, Sachs & Co., HSBC and Credit Suisse. Bill left investment banking in 2008 and entered private practice, where he invested in service, retail and private financial companies. In this connection, Bill and members of his family formed Wolf Partners to invest in and arrange financing for private companies in the energy, aviation, and investment management among other sectors. Bill, along with his father Howard Wolf, is a founding partner of Lobo Leasing.

Zohar is a Partner in our aviation department with particular expertise in finance and leasing transactions, complex commercial contracts and regulatory matters.

He has advised extensively on fleet management issues, such as aircraft procurement, purchase and disposal, operating leasing, sub-leasing, lease novations and amendments and end of lease returns. His aviation finance experience includes sale and leaseback transactions, debt financing, hire purchase and conditional sale agreements, receivables financing and securitisation.

Zohar also has in-depth experience in advising on commercial agreements for the aviation industry of all types, including contracts for the purchase of buyer's furnished equipment, fuel, catering and maintenance services, and for capacity trading, such as code sharing, franchise, charter and wetlease agreements.

Zohar is the former General Counsel - Aviation of a leading global tourism company and operator of one of Europe's largest fleets of aircraft. He is qualified in England and Wales and is also a CEDR Accredited Mediator.