GAMA Announces 2020 Executive Committee Leadership

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has announced its 2020 executive leadership and the establishment of a new senior level policy committee.

David Paddock

David Paddock of Jet Aviation will serve as Chairman of GAMA in 2020. Mr. Paddock previously served as GAMA’s Vice Chairman and chaired the association’s Communications committee. Nicolas Chabbert of Daher will serve as GAMA’s Vice Chairman. Mr. Chabbert has previously chaired the association’s Safety and Accident Investigation committee.

Nicolas Chabbert

GAMA also announced the creation of a European Leaders Steering committee. David Van Den Langenbergh of Luxaviation will lead this new effort, which will provide additional strategic guidance for the association’s on-going work with European institutions and stakeholders. The new committee will be comprised of senior executives from GAMA’s European member companies and tasked with developing strategies to grow the general aviation sector in Europe, whilst continuously improving safety.

Additionally, the following GAMA board members will provide leadership for the association’s existing policy committees:

  • Marc Drobny of StandardAero will chair the Airworthiness and Maintenance Policy committee.
  • Michael Amalfitano of Embraer will continue to chair the Communications committee.
  • Michael Thacker of Bell and Eric Allison of Uber Elevate will continue to co-chair the Electric Propulsion and Innovation Committee.
  • David Coleal of Bombardier Aviation will continue to chair the Environment committee.
  • Tyson Weihs of ForeFlight will continue to chair the Flight Operations Policy committee.
  • Eric Hinson of SIMCOM will chair the Safety and Accident Investigation committee.
  • Jim Ziegler of Greenwich AeroGroup will chair the Security Issues Committee.
  • Jeff Trang of Airbus Helicopters will chair the Technical Policy Committee.

Mark Burns of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation will continue his service on GAMA’s Executive Committee as immediate past chairman.

An overview of GAMA’s 2020 Executive Committee is available online.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.