Event Archive

Jon Andresen is the President and Principal Consultant of Technology Solutions, an international consultancy focusing on business and technology integration including Spec 2000 eBusiness, UID, RFID, bar coded part marking, part traceability, reliability, and data lifecycle.  Clients include the US Department of Defense, Boeing, Boeing Helicopter, Bombardier, Honeywell, Fujitsu, Northrop Grumman and other major corporations.  He has spent 30+ years doing business and technology integration, including 17 years at United Airlines as the IT Technical Architect.  He served as the Chair of the ATA Spec 2000 Bar Code Taskforce for 16 years.  He is the architect of the original ‘social security number’ concept for part marking on expensive parts, was one of the DoD UID Architects back in 2002, and was the primary architect of the aviation industry’s low and high capacity RFID specification.  His company has sold RFID applications to one of the largest airlines in the world as well as to a number of suppliers to the A350. He has a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and has worked extensively in the airline, railroad and defense industries implementing new systems and technologies to improve their business processes. He is the author of six magazine articles, ten consulting reports, dozens of white papers, and has spoken at more than 100 conferences around the world.

Steve Bogie is currently with Air Canada and has responsibility for Systems Planning and Strategy. This includes responsibility for the strategic vision and direction of both business and IT systems. In addition to leading the delivery and implementation of that direction, Mr. Bogie aligns the Corporate Direction with key strategic partners. Prior to his current position Mr. Bogie has held a number of senior roles in Corporate Strategy, Airline Operations, Customer Service and Community Relations. In addition Mr. Bogie runs his an Aviation consulting business focused on strategic planning for business requirements, IT systems and the integration and implementation of strategies and systems.

Steve has over 30 years experience in Aviation with commercial operators varying from float plane operations, to regional carriers to a major international carrier. This includes experience in airport operations, system operations control, labor negotiations, contingency planning, mergers, IPO's, restructurings and independent consulting. Mr. Bogie undertook his Business Administration Degree at Kwantlen University College and MBA program at Edinburgh Business School.

Mr. Charaf is responsible for all maintenance, engineering, and the MRO (Maintenance Repair and Overhaul) business for Delta Air Lines worldwide. He joined Delta in 1996 as Director of Engine Maintenance. He became Senior Vice President - Delta Air Logistics in September 2000, returned to Technical Operations in August of 2004 as Senior Vice President and was named President Delta Technical Operations in March of 2008. Mr. Charaf is responsible for a budget of almost $3B which is comprised of 56 maintenance stations and 10,000 employees worldwide who maintain nearly 800 aircraft and service over 2,400 flights daily. Since his return, Mr. Charaf has successfully built the Delta Technical Operations MRO business to $500 mm annually with double digit profit.

Mr. Charaf began his aviation career in 1977 with Pacific Airmotive Corporation as a project engineer. In 1979, he joined Aviall in Dallas where he held several positions in engineering, production, operations and marketing. In 1989, he was named Vice President - Operations for Ryder Airline Services/Aviall, and in 1993, he joined UNC, Inc. as vice President and General Manager of Pacific Airmotive Corporation, later becoming Vice President – International Marketing. Mr. Charaf earned his bachelor’s degree in Engineering, holds an A&P license as well as a private pilot license, and received a master’s degree in Management from Northrop University. He also sits on several non-profit boards including St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital, the Carter Center in Atlanta and the Red Cross Life Board. In addition, he serves on the advisory board of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

 

As Project Manager for UPS, Richard W. Deats Jr. has functional responsibilities Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering, Aircraft Materials, Finance and Accounting, Airline Safety and Gateway Operations. Deats is also a member of the Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering District Staff, reporting to the Vice President of Maintenance and Engineering.

A native of Louisville, KY Deats received a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University of Louisville, School of Business.

Deats began his UPS career in 1982 as a part-time package handler. He has held positions of increasing responsibility in Operations, Industrial Engineering and Information Technology.

In 1991, Deats was promoted to I.E. Section Manager. He then directed strategic process improvement efforts supporting UPS Airlines. He assumed his current position in 2001.

Michael Wm. Denis is a principal at ICF SH&E, a global aviation and aerospace consultancy, with over twenty-three years experience in managing maintenance operations and supply chain operations.

Michael has held numerous positions of increasing P&L responsibility encompassing diverse functions including corporate strategy, market analysis, scenario planning, mergers & acquisitions, IT and enterprise architectures, balance score card performance metrics, and process reengineering.  His information technology experience includes aviation maintenance and supply chain management, autonomics & aircraft health management, flight operations systems, computer reservation systems, and enterprise resource planning solutions.  Most recently, he has focused on Software-as-a-Service and Business Process Outsourcing business models combined with the implementation of disruptive innovative technologies to optimize profitability of capital intensive / cash flow sensitive service oriented companies.

Michael has published multiple articles on aligning business strategy to operations execution with enabling information technologies and is frequently called upon to present at aviation industry conferences.

Prior to ICF SH&E, Michael was a Principal at several consultancies including Aviation Wikinomics, Blue Water Solutions, and Accenture.  Michael began his aviation and aerospace career in the US Navy.

Michael holds a Bachelor, Nuclear Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters, Decision Science and Operations Research from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.  He qualified as a Gas Turbines Engineer and Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy and is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the American Society of Quality (ASQ), and the Six Sigma Forum.

Blair Gregg is currently the Managing Director, Technical Systems Strategy for Maintenance & Engineering. In this role he is responsible for technical systems enhancement opportunities that will measurably impact M&E performance in dependability, reliability, productivity and cost control.

Blair joined American in 2007 as the General Manager of the Alliance Maintenance Base, Southwest Division, Alliance Airport, Fort Worth. Prior to joining American, he spent 20 years with American Eagle Airlines in Fort Worth. His most recent position was Vice President Aircraft Maintenance. Also, while at American Eagle, he progressed through several positions including Director of Inventory Control, Managing Director Abilene Operations, and Vice President Base Maintenance.

Prior to American Eagle, Blair worked as a Sales Representative for Eagle Aviation, a Parts Manager for Comair and Sales Rep for Atlantic Aviation.

Wade Guthrie is responsible for IT Operations support for US Airways. He joined America West in 2004 as a Program Manager responsible for the Infrastructure upgrades at over 150 airports, include the deployment of many of the kiosks. Later that year, he was promoted to Sr. Manager IT Technical Operations , where he was responsible for supporting application development and administration. In 2006 he was promoted to Director IT for Technical Operations and Safety and in 2011 expanded his responsibilities to include Flight Operations, Crew, Inflight and Cargo. In this expanded role, Wade has a team of 96 IT professionals providing support for Technical Operations, Flight Operations, Crew, Inflight, Safety and Cargo groups.

Wade began his IT career at Motorola in 1993 as a System and Application Administrator providing support to one of several Semiconductor Factories in Phoenix, Az. In 1998, he was promoted to IT CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) Manager of a factory where his responsibilities included technical development and operational support. His management responsibilities were expanded across multiple factories to focus on rolling out new technologies and providing run & maintain operational support.

In 2002, he became the IT CIM Software Development Manager responsible for developing equipment interfaces between the production equipment and the IT systems.

Wade holds a BS, Information Technology from Western International University.

With over 25 years of aviation industry experience, Ken Jones joined ATA in 2002 and is currently Director of Electronic Data Standards. In this role, Ken manages cross-industry electronic data exchange standards development for the ATA e-Business Program. These standards encompass such functional areas as Materiel Management, Part Traceability, RFID, Reliability Data, Regulatory Data and Maintenance Information. Prior to ATA, he served as Director of Data & Integration at Cordiem, a collaborative B2B aviation industry solutions provider owned by major airlines and manufacturers. Previously, he spent over 18 years at Contintental DataGraphics, a Boeing company, where he last served as Director of Marketing for the company's Engineering Services group, having previously spent time in project management and system development. He has both a BA in Economics and a Masters in Business Administration from UCLA.

ATA airline members transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For more information regarding ATA and its member airlines, visit www.airlines.org.

Jim Keenan is Senior Vice President Technical Operations for United, the world’s leading airline.  In this role, Keenan oversees United’s Global Technical Operations, including line and base maintenance functions.  He is responsible for aircraft reliability and regulatory compliance, and oversees administrative, engineering, planning and production support of airframes, engines and components, as well as continuous improvement programs and third-party sales.

Previously, Keenan was Senior Vice President of United Service for United Airlines at the maintenance center in San Francisco, overseeing the global maintenance operation, including both base and line maintenance functions.  In this capacity he was also responsible for the safety and operational reliability of United’s fleet worldwide, as well as environmental compliance and continuous improvement.

Prior to that position, Keenan was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Pratt & Whitney Global Services Partners, one of the most extensive commercial engines maintenance, repair, and overhaul service networks in the industry.  Prior to Pratt & Whitney, Keenan spent 14 years at United, where he served as Vice President of Engineering and Technical Support and was responsible for the design and optimization of maintenance programs, the modification of aircraft, engines and components, and the performance of aircraft.

Keenan holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Santa Clara University.  He is married and has two children.

 

Kevin M. Larson is Vice President and Chief Information Officer for AAR CORP., a leading provider of products and services to the commercial aerospace and defense industries. AAR was founded in 1951 and today has revenues of over $1.5 billion with 6,000 employees in 13 countries. The company’s products and services include supply chain services; aircraft MRO; design and manufacturing services; and airlift support for government customers.

As CIO, Mr. Larson provides leadership for AAR’s Information Technology and eBusiness operations. Under his leadership, IT capabilities have become a competitive differentiator for the Company as his team provides business inputs that serve as an integral part of AAR’s MRO and supply chain offerings and contribute to their efficient operations. Mr. Larson’s customer focus led to an application service provider model that includes application hosting, network infrastructure, and a suite of integrated technology offerings. Mr. Larson has a successful track record of providing a strategic vision, technical definition and business development support to promote AAR’s enhanced systems capabilities.

Mr. Larson has 30 years of information technology experience, which includes serving as Assistant Vice President & Information Technology Audit Manager for the Bank of Montreal at Harris Trust & Savings Bank.  In 2004, he served as a Board Member for the MIT Forum for Supply Chain Innovation.  Also, he has served for five years on the Leadership Council for DePaul University’s Computing and Digital Media School.

Mr. Larson received his BS from DePaul University and his MBA from Dominican University.

As systems manger for UPS Airlines, Brian McCarthy directs the design, development and integration of applications for the UPS Maintenance and Engineering, Aircraft Parts Distribution, Finance and Accounting, Airline Safety Management, and Gateway Operation, and Airline Document Management, departments.  McCarthy is a member of the Transportation Technology Group staff

A native of Louisville, KY McCarthy received a Bachelors degree in Communication from the University of Louisville and a master’s degree in applied information technology from Bellarmine University. 

McCarthy began his UPS career in 1999 as a systems programmer. He went on to hold positions of increasing responsibility in the Transportation Technology Group and in 2007, was promoted to division manager. McCarthy then directed the design and implementation of the IT server infrastructure for the airline and for Worldport, the company’s state-of-the-art mega international hub in Louisville. He assumed his current position in 2009.

 

Per Norén leads the Boeing Information Services business which was strategically launched to increase the value to Boeing customers of the emerging information driven airplanes and advanced data driven business processes in today’s modern aviation industry.  To accomplish this, Information Services is combining Boeing’s modern IT and systems technology with our unique knowledge of airplanes, and our strong relationships with airline’s that delivers compelling information based solutions to our customers. Information Services products and services for customers is and will encompass solutions that span multiple customer business processes, integrate application suites, and draw from a range of data sources to connect our customer’s future and current information and decision support systems. 

Information Services is currently comprised of of five state-of-the art businesses – MyBoeingFleet.com, Inventory Locator Services (ILS), Continental DataGraphics, AeroInfo Systems, and the Boeing e-commerce business.

Per Norén joined Boeing in August 2007. Prior to that, he was president and chief executive officer for Carmen Systems, based in Goteborg, Sweden, since 1998. While at Carmen Systems, Norén led the growth and transformation of this global high-tech company. Under his leadership, the company grew rapidly with a CAGR of 32% and strong margins and cash flow. Carmen Systems, a crew and fleet management optimization software company, was acquired by Boeing in 2006 and is now part of Jeppesen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing.    

Prior to joining Carmen Systems, Norén held senior leadership positions at Commentor whom developed and implemented integrated software solutions and data warehousing applications (CRM) and STS International, a travel and educational services company.

Per Norén served as a Captain in the Swedish Army infantry regiment. He has served on a number of boards, including Cybercom Group, Icomera, Admeta and the Centre for Technology and Business Innovation at Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden.

Norén studied business administration at The School of Business Economics and Law at the University of Goteborg, Sweden and graduated from the executive education program at Harvard Business School, Boston, MA.

 

Peter is the manager of Air Operations Technology at FedEx Express. His focus has been to identify strategy and processes to implement information technology improvements through-out the airline. Prior to his current position he ran the Aircraft Reliability organization at FedEx for 14 years. He supports the ATA eBusiness organization as the Chairman of the Executive Steering Group. Prior to FedEx, Peter spent eight years at Douglas Aircraft Company primarily and is a retired military helicopter pilot and maintenance production control officer. Peter has a Bachelor of Science degree from The Citadel and Master of Science from the University of Southern California.

Jim Whitehurst was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat in December 2007.

Whitehurst joined Delta Air Lines in 2002, serving in various roles, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Operations, Sales and Customer Service, Network and Revenue Management, Marketing and Corporate Strategy.  Prior to joining Delta, Whitehurst served as Vice President and Director of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and held various leadership roles in their Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Atlanta offices.

A native of Columbus, GA, Whitehurst graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Economics.  He also attended Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany, holds a general course degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.