LaGuardia Airport, New York (November 18, 2009) – FlightSafety International is pleased to announce that Debbie Jones has been promoted to Manager of the company’s Hawker Beechcraft Learning Center in Wichita, Kansas. In addition, Rich High has been promoted to Regional Operations Manager with responsibility for seven FlightSafety Learning Centers. Debbie and Rich assume these responsibilities from Marlin Schaefer who will retire from FlightSafety on December 31, 2009.
“Both Debbie and Rich have the proven experience and ability to excel in their new roles and to ensure a seamless transition as Marlin retires from FlightSafety,” said Bruce Whitman, President & CEO. “We sincerely appreciate the many contributions Marlin has made during his 18 years with FlightSafety. We thank him for his service and wish him all the best in retirement.”
Debbie joined FlightSafety in 1999 as Manager, Customer Support at the Hawker Beechcraft Learning Center. She was promoted to Director, Customer Support in 2006 with responsibility for Customer Support throughout the company’s network of Learning Centers. In addition, Debbie was responsible for the management of FlightSafety’s Quality Management System. She was promoted to Assistant Manager of the Hawker Beechcraft Learning Center in August, 2009. Debbie has a Masters of Total Quality from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a Masters in Behavior Disorders from Wichita State University. She also holds a Private Pilot Certificate.
Rich will retain his responsibilities as Manager of FlightSafety’s Cessna Learning Center in Wichita, Kansas in addition to his new role as Regional Operations Manager. He joined FlightSafety in 2005 as an instructor, became Assistant Manager the following year, and was promoted to Center Manager in 2007. Prior to joining FlightSafety, Rich was Commanding Officer of the University of Kansas NROTC Unit. He served in the United States Navy for 35 years, flew over 8,000 hours in the P-3 Orion, and retired with the rank of Captain.
As Manager of the Hawker Beechcraft Learning Center, Marlin developed and led a highly qualified and customer service oriented team that provides factory authorized training for a wide range of aircraft manufactured by Hawker Beechcraft. As Regional Operations Manager, he was responsible for FlightSafety’s Learning Centers in Atlanta, Houston, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis, Tucson and the FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, Florida.
FlightSafety International is the world’s premier professional aviation training company and supplier of flight simulators, visual systems and displays to commercial, government and military organizations. We provide more than a million hours of training each year to pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals from 154 countries. FlightSafety operates the world’s largest fleet of advanced full flight simulators at Learning Centers and training locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa and Asia.
