Eric Hinson will join FlightSafety International as executive vice president Jan. 5, 2009.
Hinson is president and CEO of Piaggio America, the U.S. subsidiary of the Italian business aircraft manufacturer. He also serves on the board of directors of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
Prior to Piaggio, Hinson worked for Honeywell Aerospace in Paris, France, as vice president Europe, Middle East and Africa, where he led all of Honeywell’s aerospace activity in the region; and later as vice president sales and customer marketing for the air transport and regional group. Before joining Honeywell, he spent five years with Gulfstream Aerospace as senior vice president, strategy and business development.
Hinson started his aviation career in the U.S. Navy. After earning his wings in 1985, he spent his first tour in advanced jet training in the T/A-4J Skyhawk. After fleet tours in the A7E Corsair and F/A-18 Hornet, he was assigned to the Navy’s Operational Test Squadron, VX-5, where he completed his Navy career as the Strike Fighter Branch Head responsible for all operational test programs for the F/A-18.
He is a graduate of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and earned an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. He is an active pilot with an ATP rating and 3,600 total flight hours.
For more information: FlightSafety.com,
There are no better trained pilots in the world than US Military Pilots. Ms Sanderson is sadly mis informed and certainly bitter about something in her past employment…obviously. Can’t wait to see her simulator performance.
Wonderful —- FlightSafety continues in the tradition of hiring ex-military to run an organization training civilian pilots. They are CLUELESS and ARROGANT. At the instructors’ expense (in the form of low pay and benefits and ridiculous hours) FlightSafety continues to generate a profit for its shareholders. Wrong, wrong, wrong.