Greg Keshishian

WAA Chairman

Management Consultant and Flight Instructor

Greg Keshishian is the Managing Partner of GK Partners Inc. which provides management consulting services to publicly-traded and privately-owned companies in the areas of financial and operational performance, executive and Board compensation, and corporate governance. Previously he was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Handy Associates in New York City. In four decades of consulting experience, his corporate clients included well over five hundred industrial, manufacturing, financial services, consumer products and technology companies. He served as a Mentor in Entrepreneurship at the Columbia Business School. Greg holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Boston University and Regents College, and an MBA from New York University.

In his "second career" in aviation, Greg is an active FAA-certificated flight instructor and NAFI Master CFI flying in the Northeast and nationally, as well as having flown and consulted in the Part 135 air taxi business. As an experienced CFI/CFII/MEI, he specializes in recurrent training and safety consulting with Beechcraft and other high-performance piston and turboprop owner/operators. Dedicated to pilot proficiency, risk management and advanced airmanship, he worked as a classroom and simulator instructor at FlightSafety International TEB; served on the Board of the ABS Air Safety Foundation; and was a Governor of The Wings Club in NYC. He has also been on the FAA Safety Team at the E. Farmingdale NY FSDO for more than fifteen years, and was the Chief Examiner and Flight Safety Officer for Coast Guard Auxiliary aviation operations at USCG Air Station Cape Cod MA. 

Stephen B. Malkinson

WAA Treasurer

CTO

Red Hat

Stephen grew up in Dublin Ireland started flying on his fourteenth birthday in a Piper Cherokee and was hooked. As is normal in Europe he then went on to learn to fly gliders before moving to the USA in 1981. By 1984 Stephen found himself in one of the aviation capitals of the USA, Seattle, and had many opportunities to fly with friends around the Seattle area. It was on his return to the USA from Paris in 1998 and the proximity to HPN that Stephen committed to getting his private license and did so at Panorama. Initially he started flying with the Westchester Flying Club and in 2012 joined the first of two partnerships in Diamond DA40s both kept on the ramp at Atlantic Aviation West. In May of 2017, Stephen and his flying partner acquired a 2003 Grumman Tiger. 

When not flying, Stephen works for Red Hat as a Chief Technology Officer focussed on their networking partners in the Silicon Valley commuting from NY to San Jose commercially several times a month. Prior to Red Hat, Stephen worked for IBM and occasionally flew on IBM's corporate jets for business purposes. Stephen started with IBM in Seattle in 1985 and has also worked in San Francisco and Paris before moving to Westchester in 1998. Prior to IBM he worked for North American Phillips in Syracuse and New York City and for several computer companies in Dublin Ireland. Stephen is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin.

Since Stephen moved to Westchester, he has been very active in General Aviation at HPN and brings to the WAA a balanced view of Westchester Airport based on his commercial use, corporate use, student pilot, aircraft renter, club member and now light aircraft owner.

Previously Stephen has been both the avionics officer and Vice President of the Westchester Flying Club.

Pat Cunningham

WAA Board Member

Director of Aviation

PepsiCo

Pat Cunningham has spent most of his career working at Westchester County Airport.  His first job in aviation was working the line at Westair, in the 1970s.  

Pat has been PepsiCo’s Director of Aviation since 2006, and has worked for PepsiCo since 1989.  Prior to becoming PepsiCo’s Director of Aviation, Pat was PepsiCo’s Manager of Aircraft Maintenance.  Before joining PepsiCo, Pat worked for Panorama, Mobil Oil, Newsflight, and Executive Air Fleet. 

Pat served on the Board of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) from 2002 to 2014, and served as NBAA Board Chairman from 2009 to 2011.    

Pat holds a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Manhattanville College, an MBA from Manhattan College, and a J.D. from the Pace University School of Law.  He is an attorney admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut.  He is also an NBAA Certified Aviation Manager (CAM).  

Brittany Davies

WAA Board Member (Ex-Officio)

NE Regional Representative

NBAA 

With 19 years of business aviation experience, Brittany is the Northeast Regional Representative for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). The NBAA represents the diverse interests of companies using general aviation aircraft for business purposes, helping business aviation to thrive in the U.S. and around the world. Her career has spanned the scope of aviation including charter scheduling/sales, hangar development, flying as an aerial photography pilot, and running her own consulting firm. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Aviation Technology from Metropolitan State University of Denver and is a Multi-Instrument, Commercial rated pilot.

Her commitment to the business aviation community is marked by her involvement in grass-roots organizations throughout the years. Brittany was the first Executive Director of the Westchester Aviation Association in White Plains, New York (KHPN) and previously represented the Northeast as a member of the NBAA Local and Regional Groups Committee. As a founding member of the Colorado Aviation Business Association in 2007, she has a strong passion for the positive impact such an association can have in a community and understands the hardships faced from county and state levels. With a vast background in customer relations and business development, she utilizes industry knowledge, efficient technologies, and sharp writing skills to continue to help aviation business’ and organizations succeed.

John Donofrio

WAA Board Member

Director of Aviation

JPMorgan Chase

John started his aviation career early in his high school years. He attended Aviation High School in Queens NY, continuing on to Embry-Riddle for his undergraduate work. John graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Professional Aeronautics with a minor in Management and Safety.  In his early days, John worked for Butler Aviation before landing a maintenance position with ITT corp. During his eight years with ITT, John worked as a line technician while pursuing his private, commercial, instrument and multi-engine rating.  After a 16 year career at ITT, John held a Chief Pilot position with Unisys Corporation.  John is currently the Director of Aviation for JPMorgan Chase, based at HPN.

Luke Egan

WAA Board Member

Senior Captain

Solairus Aviation

Luke Egan began his professional pilot career at the young age of 14 after embarking on an introductory flight at his local hometown airport. Proceeding that flight, he enthusiastically began flight training toward his PPL at Goodrich Aviation in Endicott, NY.  

Following the completion of his PPL, he moved to Daytona Beach, FL to further pursue his aspirations of becoming a professional pilot at Phoenix East Aviation. Over the following five years, he earned various certificates to include a CFI, CFII, MEI, and AGI. During that time, he flew extensively as a Gold Seal Flight Instructor, Part 141 Check Airman, and Part 135 Captain. Concurrently, he accomplished his B.S. in Professional Aeronautics with a minor in Aviation Safety and Business Administration through Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

In 2008, he accepted a position with Gama Aviation on the Cessna Citation 550/560 aircraft. He progressed through several advancements before ending his tenure in 2014 as Cessna Citation X Captain for the iHeartRadio Flight Department. In 2014, he accepted a position with IBM Flight Operations where he was instrumental in developing their SMS program. He would later go on to serve as a Standards Captain on the Gulfstream G550/G650ER and Dassault Falcon 2000LX EASy aircraft. Additionally, he led a team of mentor pilots to assist in entry level pilot development. In 2021, he accepted a Senior Captain position at Solairus Aviation where he now operates a Dassault Falcon 2000LXS EASy aircraft for a private owner.

His true passion is in sharing the joy of aviation with others and giving back in a way that empowers others to experience the extraordinary opportunities that have been afforded to him.

“At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished… It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It's about what you've given back.”  ~Denzel Washington~

Eric Faulkner

WAA Board Member

Chief Executive Officer
InLine Aviation Group

Eric Faulkner has worked most of his career in aviation commencing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport at the Marine Air Terminal in 1994 for an FBO. He started out as a line service technician and moved on to the position of customer service representative.

Since 2002, Faulkner has called the Westchester County Airport (HPN) his home. He worked for a large FBO chain at HPN until 2004 when he was solicited to take on the position of director of business development for a startup FBO company located at HPN named Skyport Flight Services.

The acquired company’s financials had been greatly underperforming prior to acquisition. Within 18 months the new management team was able to significantly increase the total volume of business that flowed through the FBO’s operation. Faulkner played a huge role in redeveloping the business by assisting the company to significantly increase its transient customer base, based hangar tenants, and airline fueling operations. In less than 24 months the asset was sold to Carlyle Group (Landmark Aviation) realizing a six fold return to the investors of Skyport Flight Services.

Faulkner stayed on with the new organization, Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation dba Landmark Aviation, as operations manager, and eventually held the title of general manager for the HPN location. Following another acquisition two years later when the now current owners (GTCR/Platform Partners) of Landmark purchased the entire network of FBOs, Faulkner was called upon to assume his current position as director of national accounts in order to grow fuel and hangar sales for the entire network of 52 Landmark FBOs. 

In July of 2016 Ross Aviation partnered with KSL Capital to acquire the 6 FBO’s from the Landmark Aviation, SFS buyout. Ross Aviation named Eric Faulkner their VP and General Manager of their White Plains location.

Eric Faulkner is the CEO of Inline Aviation group – An Aircraft Management and Maintenance company that provides aviation services in NY, NJ and CT.

Eric enjoys spending time with his wife Graceann, son Freddy and daughter Christina.

Nick Hartman

WAA Board Member

Private Pilot, Aircraft Owner and HPN Tenant

Nick started his flight training in 2014 at Republic Airport on Long Island, where he earned his private pilot certificate and instrument rating. He then shifted his flying closer to home at the Westchester County Airport and joined the Westchester Flying Club (WFC) where he flew the club's V-Tail Bonanzas, Piper Arrows and Cirrus SR-20 before joining a partnership that owns a Socata Trinidad GT. Nick is an active representative for general aviation on a range of issues around the airport and in January 2019 was appointed by County Executive George Latimer to sit on the Westchester County Airport Advisory Board.

Nick leads a team supporting startups at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He is a graduate of Penn State University (BS Chemistry) and the University of Cambridge (PhD Biochemistry) where he was a Marshall Scholar. Nick and his wife and two sons live in Pelham Manor, New York. 

Brian Smith
WAA Board Member

Director of Operations
Citigroup Aviation

Brian Smith currently holds the title of Director of Operations for Citigroup Aviation based out of White Plains, NY. He has been with Citi for 22 years now and manages the daily aviation operations of an active Fortune 20 flight department with a global presence in more than 140 countries.

Brian holds a B.S. Degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Minor in Aviation Safety. He has accumulated over 9000 hours of flight time and has acquired 8 jet Type-Ratings. Before landing as the Director at Citi Aviation, Brian held a wide range of positions in aviation to include CFI, Charter Pilot, Scheduler, and International Training Captain. He has experience in both Part 91 and Part 135 operations for clients in the NYC Metro area such as Wayfarer Aviation, TAG Aviation, Multinational Corporations, and high net worth individuals.

Brian and his wife, Amy, reside in Connecticut with their 2 daughters. During any spare time he can find, Brian enjoys hobbies such as cars, sporting clays, his Labrador, and anything that gets him outside!

Andrew Wegman

WAA Board Member

Andy is a retired Naval Aviator and is the Director of Aviation at BlackRock, flying the G-650. The firm also operates G-600 aircraft.

Andy earned his Wings of Gold in 1991, retiring in 2012. During his time in the fleet, he flew the mighty MH-53E helicopter, becoming a weapons system instructor and subsequently being selected as the Navy and Marine Corp MH-53E program manager. In this role Andy was the Chief Standardization Pilot and pipeline manager for the entire Navy and Marine Corp. Later in the Navy he flew the DC-9. The Navy used the D-9 for worldwide logistics. He also became a DC-9 instructor pilot.

Andy has 2x circumnavigated the Earth, lived in Lisbon, Portugal and culminated his military career in Sicily, Italy as the CO supporting the Navy 4 Star Commander of Europe and Africa. In this role he led the team flying the Admiral to every European country in NATO and other countries such as Iraq.  After retirement, Andy has held various positions such as Chief Pilot under Part 121, 135, and 91. He also held the position of Director of Safety under Part 121.   One interesting role was flying from Stuttgart Germany into Africa.

Andy is passionate about aviation, particularly the introduction of aviation to those who never considered a career in the industry possible. His interests are Formula One and just about all sports.