NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio, April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CommutAir announced three executive appointments to its Maintenance & Technical Operations organization as it establishes the platform to triple the size of its fleet and expand its flying footprint when it inducts 40 Embraer 145 aircraft under the previously announced United Express agreement.
- ROBERT DEGRIE joins as Director of Technical Services. Mr. DeGrie will be responsible for the Fleet Engineering, Engineering & Programs, Production Planning, Materials, and and Maintenance Technology functions.
- LON ZIEGLER joins as Director of Maintenance. Mr. Ziegler will be responsible for all production functions and have responsibility for in-house and 3rd party station and base maintenance operations. He will also be nominated as CommutAir's Director of Maintenance (DOM) under 14 CFR part 119 regulations.
- RON CRUZ, joins as Manager of Dulles (IAD). Mr. Cruz will be responsible for maintenance operations at CommutAir's largest aircraft base
Robert DeGrie and Lon Ziegler will report to CommutAir's Vice President of Maintenance, James W Page II. Ron Cruz will report to Lon Ziegler.
"I am proud that we were able to attract operations executives of the caliber of Robert, Lon and Ron to CommutAir, and I am grateful for their confidence in our team and our growth story" commented Subodh Karnik, President & CEO. "And I am glad that, like most of us at CommutAir, they see the thrill in helping transform our platform to support our huge Embraer jet growth plan".
Mr. DeGrie joins CommutAir from Silver Airways, where he served as Director of Engineering and managed the Engineering, Maintenance Programs, Maintenance Training, Production Planning, and CASS functions. His two decades in the airline industry, includes tenures at Silver Airways, Avantair, Republic, Continental, Midway, and Triad. At Avantair, Robert facilitated a double-digit increase in dispatch availability; at Republic, his focus was on improving heavy check work flows; at Continental, he led the material planning component of the Boeing 777 entry and developed the ~$1 Bill inventory plan; and at Midway Airlines, he authored maintenance planning policies, procedures, and programs, including those that drove the early certification and induction of the A320. Robert has an MS in Aviation Science from Everglades University and a BS in Aerospace Administration from Middle Tennessee State University.
Mr. Lon Ziegler joins CommutAir from Expressjet Airlines where he was the Director of Maintenance with full oversight of the airline's Part 119 certificate with more than 400 aircraft and 1,300 technical operations employees. Lon joined Bar Harbor Airlines, in 1985, as an A&P mechanic, after leaving the Air Force and rapidly progressed to Director of Maintenance, with stints as QC Instructor, QC Supervisor and Maintenance Manager. During that time, his fleet included Beech 99, C-99, 1900c, EMB 110, CV-600, Saab 340, ATR-42, and Cessna 402 aircraft. He became Continental Express' Regional Director after it merged with Bar Harbor and rose to Director of Maintenance of its ExpressJet incarnation over the next decade. He is one of the world's authorities of the ERJ145 platform. Lon received an AAT in Aviation Technology and his A&P License from Williamsport Area Community College in 1985.
Mr. Ron Cruz joins CommutAir from Flightcheck Commercial Aviation Services where he established and ran its successful Dulles operation. He has been a Station Manager, Instructor, Quality Inspector, Supervisor and Technician at Airbus, Vision, Mesa Air, Gemini, Colgan, Independence, Swissport, Atlantic Coast, Gulfstream Aerospace, and the Norfolk Naval Air Station. His experience included Airbus, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas aircraft, most Bombardier and Embraer jets, as well as BAE Jetstream, Gulfstream, Grumman, Saab, and Beech turboprops. His powerplant experience is of similar breadth. Ron graduated from Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach, VA
CommutAir, based near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, operates as United Express and is majority owned by Champlain Enterprises, Inc, an airline holding company founded in the 1980s. Today, CommutAir operates a large fleet of Bombardier Q200/Q300 aircraft with more than 650 weekly flights to 29 airports. CommutAir's 500+ employees are well known in the industry for fostering a family culture and friendly work environment. Click www.commutair.com or contact us at [email protected] or Laura Prince at +1 (440) 779-4588 x 312.
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SOURCE CommutAir
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