Western Aircraft, a Greenwich AeroGroup company, introduces Shannon Edick as its new regional sales manager for Pilatus Aircraft maintenance sales. Jay Reeder, who formerly served in this role, has moved to regional sales manager for King Air aircraft and Pilatus turboprop fleet operators.

Ms. Edick joined Western Aircraft in 2015. She has served in various roles from a work order coordinator and planner to an MRO quoter, and now as the company’s newly promoted Pilatus aircraft maintenance regional sales manager. Prior to joining Western Aircraft in 2015, Ms. Edick served in an accounts payable specialist position for XTRA Airways.

In her new role with the Western Aircraft MRO sales team, she will work with PC-12 and PC-24 owners and operators and is responsible for maintenance sales on Pilatus aircraft. 

Western Aircraft, a Greenwich AeroGroup company, recently completed its first Speed Cowl installation on a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft.

Speed Cowl was developed by EDMO as an aftermarket, Federal Aviation Administration Supplemental Type Certificate upgrade to the stock cowl that currently comes on a PC-12. The simple modification improves the efficiency of conducting air into the engine, thereby providing increased ram air recovery to the engine, resulting in better performance. The modification can be performed without interfering with other systems in the aircraft, making the upgrade non-invasive.

“Our customers rave about this installation because it improves the performance of the aircraft in a very noticeable and meaningful way, and the modification can be done efficiently while the aircraft is already here for an annual inspection,” said PC-12 Technical Representative for Western Aircraft Carl Coffelt. “It takes minimal time to install, so it won’t extend the amount of time the aircraft is with us, making it a very convenient upgrade for our customers.”

Compared to the stock cowl, Speed Cowl lowers the ITT 20 to 30 degrees at the same PSI setting. EDMO indicates that the Speed Cowl promotes better airflow allowing the engine to perform the way it was designed without hurting it or consuming more fuel. It also features a heated lip design which, by reducing the temperature of the exhaust entering the lip and maintaining a more steady temperature of the heated air as it moves through the lip, will reduce the possibility of heat damage to the carbon fiber and paint over time.

Western Aircraft is the largest Pilatus dealership in the world selling both PC-12 and PC-24 aircraft, with its technicians also servicing nearly 100 PC-12 airframes every year.

Western Aircraft, a Greenwich AeroGroup company, announced today that it has hired Tonya Wood to fill the position of Interiors Manager.

In her new role, Ms. Wood oversees the removal, repair, modification, refurbishment and reinstallation of aircraft interiors according to customer specifications.

Ms. Wood has a demonstrated successful history in the aviation and aerospace industry. She’s skilled in customer service, strategic planning, LEAN principles, leadership and project management.

Immediately prior to joining Western Aircraft, she held varying positions with Gulfstream Aerospace, including Senior Pricing Analyst and most recently Principal Designer, where she created and presented custom interior schemes that included veneer, carpet, plating, countertops, cabinetry, soft goods and seat styling for private and commercial use jets. She also served as the Director of Interior Architectural Design for J. Banks Design Group and then ran her own interior design and refurbishment company for two years before accepting a position as Creative Director for Release Marine.

“We are excited to have Tonya join our team,” said Vice President and General Manager for Western Aircraft Austin Shontz. “Her expertise in design and specifically interior schemes for Gulfstream aircraft complements Western’s ever-increasing Gulfstream capabilities.”

Ms. Wood earned her Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from Winthrop University in 1989, and her Master of Business Administration from Kaplan University in 2014. She holds both LEAN and NCIDQ certifications.

Western Aircraft, a Greenwich AeroGroup company, announced that it recently completed its first 12-month maintenance repair and overhaul inspection on an Embraer Legacy 500 and its first 120-month inspection on an Embraer Phenom 100.

Western was named an Embraer Executive Jets Authorized Service Center in late 2018. It provides full maintenance support of Phenom 100/300 and Legacy 450/500 aircraft and line maintenance for Legacy 600 and 650 aircraft.

“Our team has been diligently training, and it feels good to have these two major Embraer inspections under our belts,” said Director of Sales and Marketing for Western Aircraft Kerry Heiss. “Western Aircraft has been in this business for more than 60 years, but we continue to build upon our experience, develop new capabilities and broaden our reach to new customers.”   

In addition to the inspection on the Embraer Legacy 500, interior technicians replaced all of the interior seating at the request of the customer.