Executives Named Have A Broad Range Of Experience In Aviation
Industry
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) elected
three new members to its board of directors Wednesday at its annual
membership meeting. The new members are Bob Marinace, president and
chief executive officer, Key Air, Alfred G. Peterson, airport
manager, Nantucket Memorial Airport, and Jim Sweeney, president,
Fargo Jet Center.
"NATA's Board of Directors comprises of the finest leaders
representing all areas of business aviation," said NATA President
James K. Coyne (pictured, below), "The association will greatly
benefit from the vast knowledge and experiences of Bob, Al and Jim.
Their expert guidance will not only take us through NATA's 70th
year of service, but also lead us toward success well into the
future."
Bob Marinace is president and chief executive officer of Key
Air. Marinace's longtime association with NATA includes a prior
position as Chairman of its Air Charter Committee, and he is proud
to now serve on the NATA Board of Directors. In addition, he sits
on the Board of Governors for the Air Charter Safety Foundation and
is a former member of its Executive Committee.
Marinace joined Key Air in 2009 in a senior management role and
was responsible for many of Key Air's efforts in national
expansion, client service and development of internal operating
processes. A 30-year aviation industry veteran, he has held senior
leadership positions with several leading business aviation service
companies inclusive of Chief Operating Officer, Senior VP of Flight
Operations, Business Development and VP of Integration with
experience with business aviation fleets of over 150 aircraft.
"Key Air has been a longtime member and supporter of NATA, so
it is with great honor that I am able to represent Key Air on the
NATA Board of Directors. Over the last 13 years, I have
continuously served on NATA working committees and can proudly say
that Key Air and NATA share the same level of dedication and
passion for supporting our industry's interests," said
Marinace.
Alfred G. Peterson is the airport manager at Nantucket Memorial
Airport. Peterson served in the U.S. Army as a field artillery
officer. He spent his career in business mostly related to chemical
fibers and textile yarns, working in marketing and owned three
different businesses in New York, California and Vermont. He moved
to Nantucket in 1995 and became an airport commissioner in 2000.
When the airport manager and assistant manager accepted early
retirement offers in 2003, he filled in while the search for
replacements was performed. After a few months he threw his hat
into the ring as a candidate and was given the position in March,
2004.
Peterson has supervised a successful rehab of the main runway at
Nantucket, authorized the installation of LED lighting on the
parallel taxiway and secured the financing and supervised the
completion of a new $29,000,000 terminal building. The new Airport
Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) building is underway and a new Air
Traffic Control Tower is planned for the near future. Nantucket
Memorial Airport operates the FBO for all general aviation. A new
FBO renovation plan is underway for the current ARFF building upon
completion of the new building.
Newly appointed NATA board member James P. Sweeney is a Fargo,
North Dakota native and president of Fargo Jet Center. He is a
graduate of the University of North Dakota with a B.B.A. in
Marketing.
After graduating from UND, before his career in aviation,
Sweeney worked in the commercial insurance industry in Boston, MA,
and Minneapolis, MN. In 1992, Sweeney joined North Dakota company
Weather Modification Inc., a world leader in atmospheric research
and cloud seeding as one of its leadership team. Today , he serves
as vice president of Weather Modification Incorporated where he
oversees the organization's 50-plus team members and manages
international governmental client negotiations and relationships
throughout the world.
Sweeney co-founded Fargo Jet Center Inc. in 1995. Fargo Jet is a
full-service aviation service company located in Fargo, North
Dakota at Hector International Airport. He leads Fargo Jet Center's
complete operations, including air charter, aircraft management,
maintenance organization, fueling services, flight instruction,
aircraft sales and governmental relations as well as more than 80
team members employed with the company.