Professional Pilot, February 2019

began working for a Falcon 10 owner who brought his plane to Howard Seedorf for management That was 20 years ago and Im still here I came over as a mechanic and then 2 years later I was offered the DOM position Spjuth holds that title at both N Jet and CESC They were separate entities until 2005 when they were joined and Spjuth began the dual oversight Spjuth currently has a quality control person and 4 mechanics working for him He feels that this is enough for their current workload but if replacements or additional positions are needed he knows it will be difficult You cant find them right now The pilot and maintenance shortages are real and getting worse Were always looking and so is everyone else especially the airlines Having spent time in corporate and commercial work Spjuth has seen both sides and is quite happy where hes at Unlike the airlines theres no pressure here Everything with N Jet is about safety he remarks Steady growth for a solid future As Howard Seedorf mentioned N Jet has been fortunate to have much of their business come to them without seeking it out That applies to customers as well as internal personnel The most recent to join the team is Vice President of Marketing Sales Trevor Janz With his father in the Air Force and an uncle who 32 PROFESSIONAL PILOT February 2019 owned an FBO Janz declares I was born in aviation Although his eyesight kept him from flying in the military he still pursued his passion and had his private license and instrument rating by the time he was 19 years old After college his first job was selling aircraft exhaust systems I loved it that was my in to the industry and its a great industry Aviation is a family When Janz decided he wanted to expand his career he knew he had to be involved in jet aircraft versus the smaller piston planes hed always worked with When he started looking for a new position one thing that was vitally important to him was reputation both his and whom hed work for No matter what Im selling its still me And when I looked at N Jet I couldnt find a bad word They have a top notch reputation and that meant the world to me Janz has only been with N Jet for a few months but in that time he has been indoctrinated to their safety culture We have great aircraft a prime location etc but what makes my job easier is the importance of safety We dont sell a customer We just show them the facts and figures and N Jet sells itself That is also key to our slow but steady growth Assisting with that growth is another member from the family tree founder Howard Seedorfs daughter Erika Seedorf Walker She started her career early working small jobs for N Jet in the late 1990s but joined in a full time capacity in 2010 And now she currently handles marketing and internal communications including press releases website copy and the employee newsletter Erika says Ive watched my dad tirelessly build N Jet since before I can remember I take great pleasure putting my skills and experience to work for the family business The building of N Jet has also included conservative expansion In addition to the CESC repair station they own another charter operation Wolf Aviation in Syracuse NY It is solely a charter facility with no aircraft on site although N Jet is considering all options for that location They also recently took over the management of 3 Astra jets in Phoenix AZ for an air medical operator As far as other developments President Seedorf states Im living the dream literally If more opportunities present themselves we will look at them but I love what were doing now From farm field to the future Several decades ago a young boy looked to the skies and saw a plane To him it was more than just a plane it was his future There was no way he could have known that he was looking at the inspiration to a lifelong adventure What that boy did know was that somehow someday he would live his dream of aviation From that Iowa farm field to a grass strip in northern Illinois and the skies of the world Howard Seedorf has lived that dream 40 years ago he set in motion what would become one of the top choices for aircraft charter management and maintenance in the greater Chicago area With a foundation in safety backed by a solid reputation and judicious expansion N Jet is well prepared to continue Seedorfs dream Brent Bundy has been a police officer with the Phoenix Police Dept for 27 years He has served in the PHX Air Support Unit for 17 years and is a helicopter rescue pilot with nearly 4000 hours of flight time Bundy currently flies Airbus AS350B3s for the helicopter side of Phoenix PDs air unit and Cessna 172 182s and 210s for the fixed wing side Under the N Jet umbrella is Chicago Executive Service Center a Part 145 Repair Station They perform maintenance on their aircraft as well as non managed customer planes