Q&A with Brian McCarthy

Brian McCarthy, former Sales Engineer, Jetcraft
Location: New York, NY, US

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I have been with Jetcraft since September 2015.

Why did working in the Business Aviation industry interest you?

After graduation from college I went into the Financial Services industry. While working at my previous company, I was put on several Business Aviation M&A projects and I caught the “business aviation bug”. I then decided to spend all of my vacation days and my savings traveling to the business aviation shows where I was fortunate enough to build a strong relationship with Jetcraft. I left my job and took an internship with the company in September 2015 and I started working full-time in January 2016 in Minneapolis, MN, US.

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

On the sales side, I support Dan Kilkeary in the North East United States. I also work on the company’s market research / annual forecast, and valuation of aircraft. A lot of our research and valuation work ties into our deal plans for our acquisition of aircraft for owned inventory and trades.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

There is no typical day or week at Jetcraft as we spend a lot of our time on the road (meeting with clients, showing aircraft, at airports, at aviation shows, and at closing facilities). Then we blend in our office work between all of that.

When I am at the office, I generally wake up at 7:00am to catch up on emails that I have received overnight. By 7:30am I am at the gym and then at my desk around 9:30am. I typically work at the office until 7:00pm and then will be on my phone throughout the evening.

What do you love most about your job?

The people; my colleagues, industry peers, and Jetcraft’s clients. Every person I am in contact with is extremely passionate about what they do. When you are around this type of people, it is easy to go the extra mile with/for them.

Describe the company culture at Jetcraft and what it means to you?

The company culture at Jetcraft is oriented around being a family. We all work very hard but we always find time to hang out with one another outside of work. Just to give an example, last year I flew from Hong Kong to the U.S. to go on a three-day trip with eight of my colleagues.

What do you want your customers to experience when dealing with Jetcraft?

A seamless aircraft transaction. Most of our deals require a lot of attention to detail and can be very complex as there are a lot of moving parts. Although a client may only deal with one sales person, we have a team of over 50 people worldwide that will plan, mitigate, and resolve any and every issue that may come up.

Who or what has been your greatest professional influence?

Everyone on the Jetcraft management team has been very influential to me. They have offered me a tremendous amount of opportunities and advice for both professional and personal growth. I am truly grateful to them as they took a chance on hiring a “finance guy” with very little aviation experience and they continually inspire me to be better every day.

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Honest, Ambitions, and Efficient.

What stands out to you as good customer service?

Timely, transparent, concise, and accurate information for the client with ample post-closing follow-up.

Finally, what is your hidden talent or hobby?

I think one of my hidden talents is my ability to build personal and lasting relationships with anyone. I still see and speak to a lot of my friends who I met when I was five years old. I also have friends who are much older than me. It is very important to me to keep in contact with old friends and always look to build new friendships.