Sam Elliott Promoted to Vice President and General Manager in Des Moines, Wynn Elliott Celebrates 40 Years in the Business

Jan. 8, 2018
The family-owned company celebrates 60 years in the Des Moines market, and Chairman/CEO Wynn Elliott's 40th anniversary with the company.

Des Moines, IA, January 8, 2018 –Elliott Aviation, a leader in global Aviation MRO Services, today announced the promotion of Sam Elliott to Vice President and General Manager of their Des Moines facility. The announcement comes as the family-owned company celebrates 60 years in the Des Moines market, and Chairman/CEO Wynn Elliott's 40th anniversary with the company. 

Elliott Aviation made two, major multimillion-dollar reinvestments in the Des Moines market in 2017, with the construction of a new 30,000 square foot, state-of-the-art tenant hangar, and the purchase of a Citation Excel for the use of Des Moines charter customers. The Moline, IL based company first entered the Des Moines market in 1958, when founder Herb Elliott expanded the company and was the exclusive local Beechcraft dealer. 

Today, the company has three locations and provides aviation services to aircraft owners all over the world, including aircraft sales, maintenance, paint, interior, avionics, charter, aircraft management, FBO services, parts, accessories and appraisals. They are Garmin’s top aftermarket aviation dealer and have long standing relationships with industry partners such as Rockwell Collins, Textron, Embraer and more. Their Des Moines location provides aircraft maintenance, avionics, FBO services, aircraft hangarage and charter and employs over 60 aviation professionals.

Wynn Elliott joined the company in 1978 as a line service technician and spent time as Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Omaha facility before becoming Chairman/CEO in 1993. Then known as Elliott Flying Service, he renamed the company to Elliott Aviation in 1995 to better reflect the full scope of aviation services provided and the direction the company was moving. 

During his tenure, he made major company reinvestments and expansions including a paint and interior refurbishment center in 2003, a paint and interior design center in 2007, a major renovation to the Des Moines facility in 2008, acquisition and renovation of a 30,000-square foot Jet Service Center in 2014 and a new tenant hangar in Des Moines in 2017.

Under his direction, the company has been a leader in many aviation services, including technology. In the early 2000’s, the company created the Elliott Aviation Sound Management System, a cabin noise cancelling system for King Airs, which were installed by the company and later installed direct on the Beechcraft assembly line. In 2008, the company started installing Garmin G1000’s in King Airs, which has now installed more systems than all other dealers in the world, combined, and has become the most successful cockpit retrofit program in the history of aviation. In 2014, he relaunched the aircraft sales division as Elliott Jets, who has consistently ranked in the top 10 aircraft brokers in the world, by number of transactions.

Sam Elliott first joined the company in 2013 after a management position with Des Moines based Kum and Go. He most recently served as Director of Operations of Elliott’s Des Moines facility where he oversaw major maintenance and avionics events, including industry-leading Garmin G1000 and G5000 installations. He oversaw the completion of the company’s new tenant hangar and the addition of the Des Moines-based Citation Excel to their charter certificate. He has been a member of the company’s Senior Leadership Team since 2015.

In his new role, Sam will oversee all functions of the Des Moines facility and be instrumental in continuing to grow the company in the Des Moines market. In addition to his current responsibilities, he will oversee fuel operations, and hangarage. He will also serve as the key company representative for customer service.

“Sam has shown tremendous leadership skills to the team in Des Moines and has been a key contributor to our overall company senior leadership team,” said Greg Sahr, President of Elliott Aviation. “We’re proud of his contributions and are excited to see how he will help contribute to our focus in the Des Moines market.”

Elliott Aviation is a second-generation, family-owned business aviation company offering a complete menu of high quality products and services including aircraft sales, avionics service & installations, aircraft maintenance, accessory repair & overhaul, paint & interior, charter and aircraft management. Serving the business aviation industry nationally and internationally, they have facilities in Moline, IL, Des Moines, IA, and Minneapolis, MN. The company is a member of the Pinnacle Air Network, National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), National Air Transportation Association (NATA), and National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA).