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Boeing Business Jets president Steve Taylor
September 1, 2009
“The flight department guys treat you much better if you show up in an airpla
Steve Taylor, the new president of Boeing Business Jets, grew up around airplanes. "My first airplane ride was in an Aero Commander at age a-month-and-a-half and I have kind of been in them ever since," he told me. "I was a kid who read airplane magazines front to back-your basic airplane geek."
MD Helicopters' Lynn Tilton
April 1, 2009
“Probably 80 percent of the deals that I do I wouldn’t do if I didn’t have a
IN 2000, after more than two decades of diverse Wall Street experience, Lynn Tilton started Patriarch Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in buying and fixing distressed companies.
Marquis Jet's Kenny Dichter
February 1, 2009
“This could be a $2 billion business. I don’t know if we want that. At some p
In 1999, when Kenny Dichter took his first private jet ride on a friend's Hawker 800XP from New York to Boston, the airplane wasn't all that took wing. Dichter spotted an untapped market. Less than a decade later, he helms a jet-card subsidiary to industry giant NetJets that had sales of approximately $800 million to $900 million last year.
JetSuite's Alex Wilcox
December 1, 2008
“I’m not a believer that we’re all going to be flying private to Grandma’s fo
The aviation bug bit Alex Wilcox at an early age, back when an airline pilot could invite a wide-eyed youngster into the cockpit during a long flight. Wilcox's Swiss mother and American father spent lots of time in Europe, and he vividly recalls extended conversations with pilots while crossing the North Atlantic.
Executive Jet Management's Ben Murray
June 1, 2008
When Benjamin Murray decided 11 years ago to enroll in a flight school and get his private pilot's license, he didn't give much thought to where that interest might lead him. By his own admission, he lacked the patience to continue flying and soon gave up his pilot-in-command time, but the business aspect of aviation still fascinated him.
Xojet's Paul Touw
April 1, 2008
The number-one competitor to fractional is two guys getting together and buyi
Paul Touw had barely finished high school when his entrepreneurial spirit started paying dividends. Enrolled at University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., and short on tuition funds, he noticed that the physics department lacked good lab books.
Virgin Charter's Scott Duffy
April 1, 2008
To find out more about Branson's latest brand, we spoke with the man who founded it and oversees its day-to-day operations. What were you doing before this project came along? I spent most of my career in the technology business and about three years ago was introduced to private aviation.As a passenger?
Flight Options' Michael Scheeringa
February 1, 2008
“Most people flying private would pay a 20-percent premium for the benefits f
"I started when I was six," said Michael Scheeringa, when asked how he wound up in aviation. "I grew up in Phoenix, and when I was in grade school, I used to take the city bus to the airport and watch airplanes take off and land, and count passengers. At that point, I thought I'd want to build airports."
Luis Carlos Affonso
December 1, 2007
“In emerging markets like Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia and the Middle East, c
Dreams do come true, and Luis Carlos Affonso is proof. An aeronautical engineer and private pilot, he took over in the spring of 2005 as executive vice president of the newly formed Embraer Executive Aviation division, a position he described as "just where I want to be."
Josh Mesinger
October 1, 2007
“Short of a complete global meltdown or another 9/11, I don’t see anything sl
Josh Mesinger is vice president of J. Mesinger Jet Sales, a Boulder, Colo. corporate jet brokerage and consulting firm founded by his father, Jay. The younger Mesinger joined the company eight years ago, after graduating from George Washington University.

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“You are so motivated to make sure the trip goes smoothly, because you know that the organs of these two kids are now going to save the lives of more than just a handful of other kids.”

-Dan Drohan, CEO of Solarius ­Aviation