People of the Industry

Danie Joubert, Sales Director, Africa, Jetcraft
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

My main responsibilities are the Africa market. I travel around Africa to all the different locations to handle aircraft sales transactions and look for inbound aircraft for us to market internationally.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

A typical day working from my home office starts by checking any leads that came through overnight. I’ll respond to those, then follow up with any previous leads or active transactions that require my attention throughout the day. To keep the momentum going, I then reflect on the rest of my pipeline.

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Sari Sawaya, Sales Director, Middle East & Sub-Continental India, Jetcraft
Location: Dubai, UAE

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

My responsibilities at Jetcraft are to take care of all sales activities in the Middle East. This includes everything from managing client relationships to finding new clients or handling a pre-buy.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

My day begins early in the morning with handling new leads that come in. On days when I have meetings scheduled, I usually go to the office of my client. If it’s in Dubai, it’s great because everyone comes through Dubai. If not in Dubai, I will go wherever they are.

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

The company culture at Jetcraft to me is like a big family.

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Ganesh Vedarattiname, Director – Strategy & Analytics, Jetcraft
Location: London,UK

How does Jetcraft use data analytics to support clients?

Data analytics supports our clients and every aspect of our transactions, from finding the right aircraft to getting the right value for it. We rely on a wide range of data from the market and aircraft customer information that we draw from industry sources and our own sales network. In the current market, it’s quite difficult to find an aircraft because of the high demand. So, we’ve built this proprietary software that scans the market daily showing all publicly available planes and off-market aircraft so that our sales team can show clients planes that other brokers just cannot see.

How does data analytics support the sales team?

The sales team needs to perform analytics on a daily basis, from building market reports to aircraft valuations. So, we’ve built this software that pulls all the data available and structures it into concise and powerful insights so that our sales team is always able to help our clients in the best way possible and move the deal forward.

Data analytics and Jetcraft’s position in the market

In recent years, we’ve seen a great influx of new customers and new capital in business aviation. The industry is going to get more and more sophisticated meaning that brokers will need to get smarter and more analytical in their approach to how they do things and that’s exactly what our data analytics division is about. We rely on our global sales network who are on the ground every day to give us market information, and that enables us to have an edge on the market and stay on top of things.

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Sean O’Leary, Sales Director, Northern Europe, Jetcraft
Location: London UK

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I’ve been with the company for eight years. I spent my first three years as a Sales Engineer working in Dublin. After that, I relocated to London where I assumed the position of sales director as we set up our London HQ.

Explain your role within Jetcraft’s global network?

In the global Jetcraft team, I look after our sales initiatives here in London and Northern Europe.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

Luckily for me, there’s no typical day or week. Usually, my day starts with coffee and then moves on to dealing with all of our current and active deals. That’s the priority. From then on, I move forward to proactive business and usually, this is done in the office or on the road.

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Lauren Kinelski, former Vice President Marketing, Jetcraft
Location: London, UK

 How long have you been at Jetcraft? 

This is my 7th year with Jetcraft.  I started my tenure in Raleigh NC, where the company was founded, then relocated to London in 2018 following the opening of our new UK-based global headquarters.  It has been tremendous to see the growth and accessibility of the business aviation industry over these past 7 years.         

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team? 

“At Jetcraft, no one gets eyes on your jet like we do.”  And I lead an extremely talented marketing team who ensure this phrase continues to remain true.        

 Describe a typical day or week in your role. 

• Executing bespoke promotions for our sellers’ aircraft listings  
• Creating serious attention for our qualified buyers’ acquisition needs  
• Building the iconic Jetcraft brand  

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Gemma Downs, Transaction Manager, Jetcraft
Location: London, UK

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I have been at Jetcraft since October 2021.

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

As a transaction manager I deal with all things legal. I get involved from the LOI stage onto the purchase agreement and then closing. My main role is to ensure that we have a successful and smooth closing, ensuring that we get the Bill of Sale in place, making sure that the documents are signed, and ensuring that we are not the ones holding up the transaction.

What do you love most about your job?

I like the challenge of it. Coming from a property background it is quite a similar role, but there are key differences from property to aviation. It has been a really big challenge getting to grips with the aviation law. I’ve been trying to keep up to date with it all and absorb as much information as I can so I can do the job as well as I can while also energizing myself in a challenging role.

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Jim Sorokan, VP Sales, Jetcraft Commercial
Location: Toronto, Canada

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I joined the Jetcraft Commercial in June of this year.  It has been a positive and supportive on-boarding experience during the transition into this organization.

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

Working with our client base to ensure their requirements are met beyond expectation.  This process includes two critical parts. First, acquiring aircraft to meet customer needs.  Second, supporting the sale or lease of commercial assets to achieve economic objectives our customers expect from us.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

A typical day starts by checking-in with customers and suppliers to keep momentum high on open issues and closing out completed tasks.  Timely reporting of successes and challenges to management team ensures they are in the loop and ready to support.  This rolls up to moving each transaction forward with stakeholder engagement.

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Kerry Prihoda, Accounts Payable Specialist, Jetcraft
Location: Raleigh, NC, US

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I have been with Jetcraft for one year. I started in May of 2021 as a temp to hire and became an official employee on July 1^st last year.

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

I work directly with the finance and administrative teams to help support our Controller and any special projects. My responsibilities include the day-to-day accounts payable specialist tasks such as managing the accounting inbox, reviewing our vendor invoices and sending off for approval as needed, code and prepare invoices(s) for payment via wire, and code and load the invoices into the accounting system for payment.  Some of my other responsibilities are setting up and maintaining our vendor files, preparing expense reports for staff, reconciling vendor statements, review aged AP, and annually prepare the 1099 forms, and support with month end and quarter close duties. In a nutshell it’s my job to ask questions and make sure our I’s are dotted and our T’s are crossed for auditing, compliance and documentation purposes.

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Marty Rhine, Vice President of Sales, West Star Aviation

How long have you been at your current organization?

I have been with West Start Aviation for 17 years.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

My primary responsibility includes managing the sales, contracts, design, and business development teams.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

I would describe my typical day as dynamic. Every day is a little different in the challenges that it presents.  I try to keep things moving in the right direction for the best results.

What do you love most about your job?

The people.  I particularly enjoy watching a new sales person mature as they earn the confidence and trust of a new customer.  To witness the initial bond and to watch their relationship begin to grow is something special.

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