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Don Baldwin

President and CEO

 

In his three decades of general and global business aviation experience as Aviation Director for Coca-Cola and long-time flight department manager for Texaco®, Don devised countless creative ways to integrate services and software among the company's small, satellite flight operations to improve safety and standards.

 

While serving as NBAA interim President and Chairman of the Board, Don became even more convinced that smaller flight departments require and deserve the same level of resources, services, and safety management as their larger counterparts. With the creation of Baldwin Aviation Safety & Compliance, safety management programs became available to all sizes of flight departments that weren't fortunate enough to have Texaco or Coca-Cola sized support.

 

In 2010, Don was awarded certification in Aviation Safety & Security through the renowned University of Southern California - Viterbi School of Engineering program and is a Registered Safety Professional of the ISSP (International Society of Safety Professionals).  Besides chairing the NBAA Board and sitting on numerous NBAA committees, Don's industry involvement has also included positions on NetJets Advisory Board, FAA FOARQ Committee, Gulfstream Advisory Board, Signature Flight Support Advisory Board, and Embraer Advisory Board to mention a few.
 

 

Jason Starke

Director, Standards

 

As the Director of Standards for Baldwin Aviation, Jason is responsible for assuring compliance with standards, best practices, and state regulations. Prior to this, he served as  Operations Manager for the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). He joined IBAC from Universal Weather and Aviation where he led efforts to develop an SMS solution.

 

Prior to Universal, Jason was both a pilot for and Director of Safety at Priester Aviation in Chicago where he developed the company’s SMS and implemented its FOQA program. He had been a charter and EMS pilot for R&M Aviation before joining Priester.  Jason also served as a simulator instructor for Flight Safety International in the CL-601 and HS-800XP training programs. Jason has an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and is rated in the CE-500, CL-600, and HS-125. 

 

Jason started his career as a satellite systems operator in the U.S. Air Force and has a B.S. in Meteorology from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Aviation Science from Everglades University. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at Northcentral University.  Jason served on the Safety Management and Flight Operations panels at ICAO and is currently serving on the NBAA Safety Committee since 2013.  As an instructor at the University of Southern California - Viterbi, Jason teaches Aviation Safety Management Systems.

 

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Mark Hente

Sr. Safety Manager 

 

Mark joins Baldwin Aviation with over forty years of corporate experience, which includes leadership positions as Director of Operations/Chief Pilot for Nationwide Insurance, General Manager/Chief Pilot at MPW Industrial Services, and Chief Pilot for Cooper Industries.

 

Growing up in a family of pilots, Mark started in line service at the age of sixteen and by eighteen had acquired his ratings and become one of the youngest co-pilots on a Lear 25 for a private individual.  While flying and majoring in Business Administration an opportunity in corporate aviation led him to Kirsch Company a subsidiary of Cooper Industries as a co-pilot.  By thirty-two, Mark was named Chief Pilot at Cooper Industries, a Fortune 100 company operating out of Columbus, Ohio.  Seventeen years later, a new opportunity presented itself when he worked with the owner of a growing private company, MPW Industrial Services to create and direct their aviation department.  In 2000, Mark started his seventeen years at Nationwide Insurance, a Fortune 100 company as the Director of Operations and Chief Pilot.  Under his leadership the department was one of the early companies to recognize the importance of IS-BAO in corporate aviation.  After more than twelve years of certification and six at Stage III, their most recent audit had no findings. 

 

He created a college internship program for Business Aviation Majors, pilots and mechanics interested in corporate flight.  In conjunction with the ERP Officer, Mark created and directed emergency response validation exercises involving local first responders, government agencies and company executives.  A longtime member of NBAA, Mark has numerous Safety Awards from over 15,000 yours of accident free domestic and international operations.  He has served for many years as a member of the Bombardier Challenger Advisory Board and a member of the Ohio Regional Business Aircraft Association.  Mark has completed SMS training and the IS-BAO Fundamentals and Auditor Workshop for IS-BAO Auditor Certification.

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Mark Myers

Sr. Safety Manager 

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Mark brings Baldwin over thirty years of experience in creating and maintaining a living culture of risk and safety management within commercial, corporate, and spaceflight operations. 

 

Mark’s risk and safety management experience includes integrating an SMS within mission launch and flight test operations for Virgin Galactic in Mojave, CA and Las Cruces, NM. Prior to Virgin, he served as a Senior Director Risk Director and Compliance Officer for REACH Air Medical Services – a multi-state rotor and fixed wing Emergency Medical Services operator.  Adding to his FAA Part 400 and Part 135 operations experience, Mark spent over 20-years with United Airlines as a Senior Safety, Quality and Internal Evaluation Programs Manager, for United Airlines.  These positions have served him well in developing broad safety and risk management expertise in proactive safety management system integration, enterprise and venture risk analysis, voluntary safety action programs, and compliance management systems.

 

Mark is a Professional and Flight Instructor, Technical Writer, Certified Quality Auditor, and holds an MBA with emphasis in organizational design and change management.

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Todd Thomas 

Sr. Safety Manager 

 

Todd is a proven Airline professional bringing Baldwin over 20 years of experience in the U.S. Part 121 Air Carrier industry.  Todd worked his way up from part-time Gate/Ramp agent with USAir to his most recent position as Director of Safety for Eastern Airlines, LLC.  He has served in the FAA required part 119 position of Director of Safety for four (4) U.S. Part 121 Supplemental Air Carriers, three of which were passenger carriers and one an all-cargo carrier. 

Todd was a member of two Management teams of start-up carriers helping them successfully gain their U.S. Part 121 Supplemental Operating Certificates.  This provided him with a solid background in navigating and applying the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) and Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs).  As Director of Safety for 21 Air, LLC, he created and implemented a fully functioning Safety Management System (SMS) as part of their Certification process.  At the time, 21 Air was only the second U.S. Carrier to be certified with a fully functioning SMS program already in place.  Todd utilized Baldwin’s SMS Lite system to successfully manage the certification of 21 Air’s SMS program and also integrated the Baldwin SMS Lite system at Eastern Airlines as well.  

 

All of Todd’s Director of Safety Positions has given him invaluable “hands-on” real world experience in Change Management and Hazard Risk Assessment.    As a result, Todd brings Baldwin a wealth of knowledge of 49 CFR Part 5 SMS requirements.  Todd has extensive domestic and world-wide travel experience on behalf of air carriers conducting training and auditing    

   

Todd is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BS in Business Management with a concentration in Marketing.   He is a Veteran of the U.S. Air Force achieving the rank of Sgt. before his Honorable Discharge.  He served in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Seymour Johnson AFB as part of the 68th Maintenance Squadron in support of the 68th Bomb Wing.   Todd holds a Private Pilot’s license.

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JD Smith

Project Manager

 

An Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) and Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), Bob Conyers came to Baldwin from Global Aerospace where he has served for more than two decades, most recently as Manager of General Aviation Safety.  Bob's extensive experience in conducting safety audits with flight departments, commercial companies, FBOs, airports and law enforcement agencies dovetails perfectly with our established record of helping flight departments create and maintain an effective Safety Management System (SMS). 

 

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