{"id":11998,"date":"2019-02-18T20:43:34","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T20:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=11998"},"modified":"2019-02-18T20:43:36","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T20:43:36","slug":"tom-burt-executive-vice-president-coo-of-duncan-aviation-in-battle-creek-to-retire-after-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/michigan\/tom-burt-executive-vice-president-coo-of-duncan-aviation-in-battle-creek-to-retire-after-40-years\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Tom Burt, Executive Vice President & COO of Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, to Retire after 40 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Tom Burt<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Duncan Aviation would like to wish Tom Burt, Executive Vice\nPresident and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the company\u2019s full-service\nfacility in Battle Creek, Michigan, congratulations as he plans to retire from\nday-to-day operations on March 8. After spending his 40-year career at the\ncompany, Burt welcomes the slower pace retirement promises, and he intends to\nremain active at Duncan Aviation, teaching leadership and business classes for\nthe foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andy Richards, a 22-year veteran with Duncan Aviation, will\nassume the role of Executive Vice President and COO as Burt steps down. The two\nhave worked together for the past seven years and in recent months have worked\nthrough a transition plan.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in a small town in northern Iowa, Burt worked at\na shop on the local airfield in exchange for flying lessons, earning his\npilot\u2019s license while he was in high school. He then worked as a flight\ninstructor at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas, while earning a degree\nin Mechanical Engineering Technology and his Airframe & Powerplant\n(A&P) certification. In 1979, newly married and considering job\nopportunities, Burt responded to an ad for an A&P mechanic at Duncan\nAviation in Lincoln, Neb. Once hired, he began working on Learjets and\nturboprops on the shop floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was fortunate to start at the company while Donald Duncan\nwas still active and his son Robert Duncan, now Chairman Emeritus, was\nPresident. Todd Duncan, Robert\u2019s son and current Chairman, was in his early\nteens when we first met at a company party. The company was much smaller then,\nprobably around 150 people,\u201d says Burt. \u201cA lot of things have changed since\nthose days including the aircraft we work on, the services we offer, the many\nfacilities we have added, and the amazing team we have developed. With the\nvision of the Duncan family coupled with the leadership of our President, Aaron\nHilkemann, I have been priviledged to be part of a lot of growth and success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After those early years as a technician, Burt worked his way\nthrough various positions in Sales and Customer Service at the growing Duncan\nAviation facility in Lincoln. In 1999, he joined the Senior Management Team and\nthen transferred to the Battle Creek location in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, Burt has traveled a great deal for business,\nand he and his wife are now looking forward to moving back to Nebraska, staying\nput for a while, and spending as much time as possible with their children and\ngrandchildren. Two of their three children and four of their seven\ngrandchildren live in Omaha, and their middle daughter and her family live in\nMemphis, Tenn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Burt can\u2019t begin to name all of the people who have\ninfluenced him during his 40 years at Duncan Aviation, he\u2019s grateful to\neveryone who helped along the way. The company provided the opportunities, and\nBurt was able, with the help of others, to work hard, grow and succeed in his\nlong career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI firmly believe those opportunities are still here,\u201d says\nBurt. \u201cFor team members who want to develop and grow, Duncan Aviation will\nalways provide guidance, training, mentoring and many career opportunities. I\nintend to give back by continuing to teach in the company\u2019s leadership\ndevelopment program as well as serve on the board of trustees at my alma mater,\nLeTourneau University. I intend to stay active in aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Duncan Aviation would like to wish Tom Burt, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the company\u2019s full-service facility in Battle Creek, Michigan, congratulations as he plans to retire from day-to-day operations on March 8. After spending his 40-year career at the company, Burt welcomes the slower pace retirement promises, and he intends […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-michigan","category-nebraska"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12000,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998\/revisions\/12000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}