"Howie" began his aviation career as a civilian trained pilot while growing up in southwest Pennsylvania. His first flight lesson was at age 13 and he has been enjoying every moment in the air since. After building experience in a variety of corporate aircraft he was employed by a Regional Airline flying 30-seat aircraft. Then, after a stint serving as the Chief Pilot of Numetrics/84 Lumber he began an airline career in 1990. During his tenure at the world's largest airline he flew the Boeing 727, 737, 757, 767, 777, Airbus A-300-600R, Fokker 100 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80 Aircraft. He was recruited into the training department as a Captain/Check Airman on MD-80 aircraft. Later he transitioned to training pilots on the 757 and 767 and then ended his 28-year career as a Check Airman on the Boeing 777. Howie is a Captain and Instructor on all company aircraft. Additionally, he is an FAA certified Airframe and Power-plant Mechanic.
Howie concurrently maintained a career in business. In 1994 he made an equity investment in an Olds/Cadillac/GMC Truck franchise. He was named the dealer and was responsible for all day-to-day management activities. Concurrently, he has provided consulting, management and aircraft acquisition/sales services to a wide variety of individuals, private concerns and public corporations. He has personally owned numerous piston and turbine aircraft. He has overseen dozens of aircraft transactions, from small singles through business jets. In addition to managing the day-to day affairs of Chairman he acts as a conduit between the Private Equity community and business aviation.
Roxanne is responsible for all day-to-day scheduling of trips, aircraft and crews while simultaneously maintaining compliance with TSA mandates. Additionally, her duties include management of all receivables and payables as well as administering the company DOT Drug and Alcohol testing program. Roxanne is a native of Squirrel Hill, PA – Pittsburgh, PA. Her father owned and operated a well-known Supper Club, The Ankara. After graduating St. Francis Academy as Salutatorian, Roxanne won a scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Resource Management. Her graduate studies included earning certifications in child development, education, and Information technology primarily from the University of Pittsburgh.
Post graduation she served as a Teacher in Mt. Lebanon School District. Later, she began a long career in Peters Township School District as a teacher of students and staff eventually migrating into a position as Manager of IT resources for the School District. In this position her duties included implementing and supporting scheduling and grading software for the school system. Roxanne officially retired from this position in 2008, but continued serving as an outside contractor to the school district until moving to the DFW Metroplex in 2011. Roxanne was married to her husband, Howard, for over 49 years until he lost a long battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2017.
After training to earn his FAA Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic's ratings John joined several small firms executing maintenance on a variety of aircraft, large and small. Next he spent several years at ATP, a large flight training concern where he earned his inspection authorization.
We are proud to say John joined Chairman in the summer of 2015. He oversees all of our maintenance as well as assisting clients in the maintenance of singles through stand up cabin business jets. Not satisfied with the status quo John has also achieved his Pilots Certificate complete with multi-engine rating. He is qualified to fly our Beech King Air and Citation X.
Bryan is an Airline Transport, Multi-Engine, Instrument pilot, Type Rated in the Lear 45, Textron Cessna CJ3+ and maintains a qualification in our King Air. He currently serves as a Captain in our King Air B-200 and Captain in our CJ3+. Additionally, he is a Certified Flight Instructor. Bryan spent 21 years as a KC-130 Loadmaster in the United States Marine Corps. His military service included two deployments to the Middle East. Before joining Chairman, he flew for a regional turboprop operator based out of Dallas Love Field (KDAL). Bryan is married to Trisha and has three grown children and four grandchildren.
Emily Horton has spent her whole life around planes: commercial at a younger age and more recently within the private aviation space. She has started her journey to become a pilot, which has expanded her understanding of all the behind-the-scenes operations involved in flying. As part of the Chairman team, she aims to help clients discover the best that private aviation has to offer.
After spending three years as an engineer in the energy, nuclear power, and infrastructure industries, she is squarely focused on understanding and transforming the transportation industry as a whole. With her keen interest in transportation, Emily is also a management consultant where she continues to hone her experience on the business operations side.
Emily holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and always aspires to live up to her dad’s longtime nickname for her, Fly.
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