Professional Pilot, January 2016

PROFESSIONAL PILOT January 2016 61 ers transported by Averitt Gregory graduated in 1982 with a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Tech University While in college he joined the Navy Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate program with the desire to fly and work for NASA but a medical condition kept him out of the flying program Undeterred Gregory went on to earn his pilots license as a civilian and became a licensed professional engineer Today Gregory has logged some 6000 flight hours and is type rated in Learjets including the 45 model For most of his career Gregory has worked as both an engineer and pilot In 1984 he worked for Vista Energy Corporation as a petroleum engineer drilling for oil and gas out west The company had a Piper Navajo and Gregory became the company pilot in addition to being its petroleum engineer When he landed and watched other fellow pilots head to the pilots lounge Gregory changed hats and went to work as an engineer Gregory says his most important job is hiring the right people When you hire people that are better than you the business tends to run on autopilot and the job gets done right he declares Director of operations Jay Garrett graduated from Middle TN State University in 1985 with a BS in aerospace administration a minor in marketing and a private pilot license After college he worked for several years as a dispatcher before he finished his pilot certifications and began flying for B C Aviation as a charter pilot while still maintaining his admin roles Averitt Express purchased B C in 1998 to form Averitt Air and Garrett stayed with the company He was promoted to director of ops in 1999 He is responsible for all aspects of Averitts aircraft management service its air charter operation and the repair station as well as hiring new employees Garrett calls Averitt Air a management company with air taxi capabilities Doing business this way allows aircraft ownership to be a profit center rather than a flat out cost center explains Garrett Whether flying managed customers charter customers or Averitt Express personnel the air divisions goal is to be a full service operation that accommodates every customers needs Garrett enjoys being part of the team at Averitt where all staff members truly work to support one another Chief pilot dir of business development Bob Vollmuth graduated in 1990 from the University of ND with a BS in airway science management In 1997 he received an MBA in aviation management from Embry Riddle During his 2nd year of college while working on his pilot ratings Vollmuth was selected for an Army ROTC scholarship He earned his fixed wing and helicopter ratings and received a commission in the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant upon graduation Vollmuth flew the Sikorsky UH60 Black Hawk and spent a year in Korea as a medical service pilot He then joined the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault unit where he was on active duty until 1995 Vollmuth spent 10 years in the Army where he also flew the Beech C12 King Air He completed his service at Ft Hood Vollmuth joined Averitt Air as a Learjet FO in 2000 moved up to captain in 2002 and was promoted to director of sales and marketing in 2003 In 2006 he became the chief pilot and director of business development Today he splits his time about 60 40 between flying and business development Director of maintenance Mark McCrary is DOM for Averitts charter ops and is also parts mgr for the repair station He joined the company in 2005 as a line mechanic He was promoted to lead mechanic a year later and moved into his current role as DOM in 2007 He is currently responsible for tracking and keeping control of all aircraft maintenance on the companys charter certificate as well as controlling parts inventory and distribution for the repair station McCrary graduated from Middle TN University with a BS in aerospace administration Then he joined the Air Force and worked as a mechanic mainly on the North American F15 for 4 years before earning his A P rating and going to work for several regional carriers General manager Neal Ropp joined Averitt Air in 2003 As the companys general manager he leads a team of 12 A Ps and oversees all aircraft maintenance and repair for Averitts MRO its charter ops and managed aircraft His team also provides support for a Part 121 operator Ropp graduated from Spartan School of Aeronautics with an A P license Several years later he earned his IA certification Ropp previously worked for Pratt Whitney and Bombardier Learjet and owned his own maintenance business His experience as an A P and IA as well as his years in sales and customer service made him Exec VP Steve Gregory joined Averitt Express in mid 1998 to launch the companys air division Averitt Air Hes spent most of his career as both a professional pilot and an engineer Jay Garrett was promoted to director of ops in 1999 Today he oversees all aspects of Averitts aircraft management service its air charter ops repair station and new employee hiring Chief Pilot Dir of Business Development Bob Vollmuth splits his time between flying and business innovations He joined Averitt in 2000 after 10 years as a US Army helicopter and fixed wing pilot