Dave Girard, technical sales manager at West Star Aviation has received the
Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award for 50 years as a mechanic.
“I am humbled to have received this award from the FAA,” he said. “I started in this business as a teenager and now I work with an excellent group of experienced aviation professionals providing knowledge and building dynamic relationships for a world-class MRO.”
Girard began his career in aviation right out of high school working at Boeing.
When he enlisted in the Air Force in the mid-1960s, he ended up serving in the Vietnam War as a Phantom Staff Sergeant.
In 1972, he accepted a position with Cessna and worked his way up to the delivery group making sure Conquest aircraft were de-squawked upon delivery.
He began his career with West Star Aviation in 1981, known at the time as Monarch Aviation. He was in sales until 1996. He returned to West Star Aviation in Grand Junction, Colo., in 2001 and has worked his way up to technical sales manager for Textron/Embraer.
In addition to its facilities in East Alton, Ill., Grand Junction, and Chattanooga, Tenn., West Star Aviation runs maintenance operations at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colo.; Chicago Executive Airport in Chicago; Centennial Airport in Denver; and Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport in Texas. The company also provides FBO services for transient aircraft at its newly remodeled East Alton and Grand Junction facilities.