Aerion, developer of the AS2 supersonic business jet, has appointed aviation industry veteran Ernie Edwards as its senior vice-president and chief commercial officer.
Edwards is responsible for all sales activity related to its Mach 1.5 SBJ, which is slated to make its first flight in around 2019 and enter service three years later.
Edwards' career in the aviation industry has spanned 45 years. This includes a two-and-a-half-year spell as president of Embraer Executive Jets, which he helped to shape into a leading business aviation brand before retiring from the company in 2013.
Most recently, Edwards served as non-executive chairman of Veling Tayara, a Dubai-based business jet leasing firm. He also held senior management positions with Cessna and Gulfstream and is the former president of Swift Aviation, which introduced Embraer to the business aircraft market in 2002 by offering the Legacy 600, a variant of the EMB-135 regional jet.
“The most rewarding times in my career have been those when I had the chance to run with a new idea, and remake the industry,” says Edwards. “Aerion will do more than that; it will simply revolutionise the way the world travels. I could not ask for a more exciting opportunity.”
Source: Flight International
