Bill Boisture, Jr. Also Ran NetJets
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC)
announced Monday its new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer --
W.W. (Bill) Boisture Jr.
"Bill is the right person at exactly the right time," said
Sanjeev Mehra, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs and Chairman of
the Board of Directors of Hawker Beechcraft Inc. "His proven
ability to drive customer satisfaction and value has never been
more important than in this challenging economic environment. I am
delighted to welcome Bill to HBC."
Boisture is the former President of NetJets, Gulfstream
Aerospace Corporation and British Aerospace Corporate Jets (a
forerunner to Hawker), and the former Chairman and CEO of Butler
Aviation. Most recently, he was the President of Intrepid Aviation,
a privately held commercial aircraft lessor, and a senior advisor
for aerospace at The Carlyle Group.
"As a former leader of NetJets, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
and British Aerospace Corporate Jets, Bill has the unique
experience of having been an HBC customer, competitor and leader,"
said Nigel Wright, managing director of ONEX Corporation and a
member of the Board of Directors of Hawker Beechcraft Inc. "In
addition, as a graduate of the Air Force Academy and a decorated
Air Force veteran, he brings expertise and insight to the
government business aspect of our company."
Boisture was a fighter pilot in the US Air Force (USAF) and
graduated from the USAF Fighter Weapons School and the US Navy
Fighter Weapons School. He was honorably discharged as a major
after 11 years of service. Boisture also has a commercial
instrument rating and continues to be an active pilot logging more
than 500 hours in the past two years.
"This is an outstanding opportunity," said Boisture. "Hawker
Beechcraft has the broadest product line-up in the industry, is a
leader in advanced technology with its composite aircraft and is
well-positioned to succeed coming out of this downturn. Further, I
have already seen incredible support from our owners, Goldman Sachs
and Onex, and am confident this will be a wonderful
partnership."
Boisture succeeds Jim Schuster,
who announced his retirement in November.
"We thank Jim for his service and contributions to HBC during
his nearly eight years as CEO," said Mehra. "During his tenure, the
company achieved a record order backlog, certified more new models
than any other general aviation company and delivered the first
Hawker 4000... We wish Jim all the best in his retirement."