Business aviation proved resilient to the Covid-19 crisis. However, in the eyes of many activists, the sector – with its low passenger to fuel-use ratio – is a major carbon culprit. In recent years, business aviation has been at the forefront of efforts to drive down the environmental impact of flying. In this webinar, leaders from across business aviation explain what they are doing to improve the industry’s image and what further steps will be necessary to genuinely reduce its emission footprint.

Speakers:

Marty Kretchman, Senior Vice President, Operations Planning, Signature Flight Support

Marty joined Signature as part of the Landmark Aviation acquisition in 2016. He currently serves as Senior Vice President, Operations Planning with responsibility for all global operations support functions, and leads the Epic Fuels and TECHNICAir MRO portfolio businesses. He has over 20 years of experience in the aviation industry. Prior to Signature, Marty had various roles leading acquisitions and integrations for Landmark Aviation, served as a General Manager for four different FBO locations and flew business jets professionally. He has a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management from the University of Phoenix, holds an FAA Commercial pilot license with land and seaplane ratings, and remains an avid general aviation pilot with over 1,100 hours flight time.

Stanley Bugeja, Managing Director, DCAviation (Malta) Ltd.

Stanley has occupied various positions in the Maltese and European aviation industry since 1990. He left Mediterranean Aviation Co. Ltd in 2002 as Assistant Operations Manager. That same year he setup Sierra Aviation Co. Ltd. as owner and CEO of the Island’s first dedicated business aviation aircraft handling company, building an aircraft charter brokerage base out of Malta. Between 2007 and 2008 he occupied the position of Managing Director for CharterX Wyvern Europe. At the time CharterX was the leading platform for online business jet charter trading worldwide. He is currently Managing Director of DC Aviation (Malta) Ltd., a subsidiary of DC Aviation GmbH (a merger between ex Daimler Chrysler Aviation and Cirrus Aviation) and Group Head for Aircraft Charter Sales. Stanley founded the Malta Business Aviation Association (MBAA) in October 2009 and has been serving as President of the MBAA ever since. Stanley has been serving on the Board of governors of the EBBA since 2010.

Simon Geere, Chief Executive Officer, Farnborough Airport

Simon joined Farnborough Airport having worked with the shareholder for the last 18 years. Simon’s childhood ambition was to become an architect and in 1986 Simon left London and went to Plymouth Polytechnic to pursue his dream. Unfortunately things did not turn out as planned and after the first year Simon was ‘encouraged’ to find a different educational path. So he undertook a degree in Transport Studies which set Simon on an aviation career path and an eventual job as a Facilities Planner at Gatwick Airport, BAA plc. Over the years that followed, Simon moved around BAA plc in various roles and undertook an MBA course. It was in 2000 that Simon joined the newly privatised Luton Airport as General Manager Aviation. At the time, Luton Airport was the largest Business Aviation airport in London and of course home to easyJet. It was a few years later that he was asked to join an Australian company called Macquarie.

Bruce Parry, Senior Advisor, Industry Affairs, Bombardier

Bruce Parry is an experienced sustainability and environmental professional and has worked within the aviation industry in a variety of capacities supporting these subjects for more than twenty years and has recently re-joined Bombardier. As Senior Advisor, Industry Affairs for Bombardier, Bruce represents Bombardier as liaison with the industry and represents the organisation at all levels focusing on key stakeholder groups for the business aviation sector including civil aviation agencies, trade organisations and other key industry bodies on a wide variety of industry subjects. Prior to re-joining Bombardier, Bruce held roles as Senior Environment Manager for the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) and Environment Director for the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) concurrently.

Scott McElvaine, Vice President of Marketing, Business Development and Commercial Services, Pratt & Whitney Canada

Christopher (Scott) McElvaine was named Vice President, Business Development & Commercial Services at Pratt & Whitney Canada in January 2022. Drawing on his knowledge of trends and market factors, he provides leadership in planning, directing and managing our next product and service strategy transformation. Following eight years with the Department of National Defence, he began his career with us in 1996 as a Senior Engineer. He subsequently worked as a manager in Marketing, Customer Training, Customer Programs (Turbofans) and Commercial Services before being appointed Senior Director, PW800 Marketing & Customer Service, in 2009. In that role, he was responsible for successfully launching the game-changing PurePower® PW800 engine for the large, long-range business jet segment. In 2017, Scott was named Vice President, PW800 Programs, bringing innovation-oriented leadership and organizational excellence to the PW800. In 2021, he became Vice President, Customer Programs.