Executives Named Have A Broad Range Of Experience In Aviation Industry

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) elected three new members to its board of directors Wednesday at its annual membership meeting. The new members are Bob Marinace, president and chief executive officer, Key Air, Alfred G. Peterson, airport manager, Nantucket Memorial Airport, and Jim Sweeney, president, Fargo Jet Center.

"NATA's Board of Directors comprises of the finest leaders representing all areas of business aviation," said NATA President James K. Coyne (pictured, below), "The association will greatly benefit from the vast knowledge and experiences of Bob, Al and Jim. Their expert guidance will not only take us through NATA's 70th year of service, but also lead us toward success well into the future."

Bob Marinace is president and chief executive officer of Key Air. Marinace's longtime association with NATA includes a prior position as Chairman of its Air Charter Committee, and he is proud to now serve on the NATA Board of Directors. In addition, he sits on the Board of Governors for the Air Charter Safety Foundation and is a former member of its Executive Committee.

Marinace joined Key Air in 2009 in a senior management role and was responsible for many of Key Air's efforts in national expansion, client service and development of internal operating processes. A 30-year aviation industry veteran, he has held senior leadership positions with several leading business aviation service companies inclusive of Chief Operating Officer, Senior VP of Flight Operations, Business Development and VP of Integration with experience with business aviation fleets of over 150 aircraft.

"Key Air has been a longtime member and supporter of NATA, so it is with great honor that I am able to represent Key Air on the NATA Board of Directors. Over the last 13 years, I have continuously served on NATA working committees and can proudly say that Key Air and NATA share the same level of dedication and passion for supporting our industry's interests," said Marinace.

Alfred G. Peterson is the airport manager at Nantucket Memorial Airport. Peterson served in the U.S. Army as a field artillery officer. He spent his career in business mostly related to chemical fibers and textile yarns, working in marketing and owned three different businesses in New York, California and Vermont. He moved to Nantucket in 1995 and became an airport commissioner in 2000. When the airport manager and assistant manager accepted early retirement offers in 2003, he filled in while the search for replacements was performed. After a few months he threw his hat into the ring as a candidate and was given the position in March, 2004.

Peterson has supervised a successful rehab of the main runway at Nantucket, authorized the installation of LED lighting on the parallel taxiway and secured the financing and supervised the completion of a new $29,000,000 terminal building. The new Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) building is underway and a new Air Traffic Control Tower is planned for the near future. Nantucket Memorial Airport operates the FBO for all general aviation. A new FBO renovation plan is underway for the current ARFF building upon completion of the new building.

Newly appointed NATA board member James P. Sweeney is a Fargo, North Dakota native and president of Fargo Jet Center. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a B.B.A. in Marketing.

After graduating from UND, before his career in aviation, Sweeney worked in the commercial insurance industry in Boston, MA, and Minneapolis, MN. In 1992, Sweeney joined North Dakota company Weather Modification Inc., a world leader in atmospheric research and cloud seeding as one of its leadership team. Today , he serves as vice president of Weather Modification Incorporated where he oversees the organization's 50-plus team members and manages international governmental client negotiations and relationships throughout the world.

Sweeney co-founded Fargo Jet Center Inc. in 1995. Fargo Jet is a full-service aviation service company located in Fargo, North Dakota at Hector International Airport. He leads Fargo Jet Center's complete operations, including air charter, aircraft management, maintenance organization, fueling services, flight instruction, aircraft sales and governmental relations as well as more than 80 team members employed with the company.

FMI: www.nata.aero