Jetsetting Journeys: A Career Soaring from JFK to Unifi's Unique Aviation Landscape

How did you start your aviation career? 

It was supposed to be a part-time job, which I think a lot of people who started in aviation will say that. I was a customer service agent for the summer at JFK in 1992. But when that role came to an end, I had the opportunity to pursue flight dispatch training. It was in Rome, and I jumped at the chance to go, and it turned out to be what ignited my passion for this industry.

What was your first role as a Station Operations leader? 

At SFO – San Francisco International Airport – I was a station manager for Alitalia Airlines [which became a part of ITA Airways in 2021]. There was a San Francisco to Milan route at the time. In fact, two days after 9/11, that flight was the first commercial aircraft to depart from the US after those horrific attacks. I remember working day and night with my team, the airport, the airline, and state and federal officials.

Shortly after that, Alitalia closed that station and those operations—just one of the travel repercussions of 911, but my career progressed since that first role as station manager. I went on to have a stint in Hawaii with Hawaiian Airlines, and now I've landed back in California with Unifi. We have such a unique model here regarding the scope of our services and how we approach aviation services.

Unifi handles more than two million flights annually—commercial, cargo, and charter flights.  

Tell us about Unifi's charter services and your experience with them. 

Sure – Unifi does quite a bit of charter business. We do corporate charters, casino charters, collegiate sports, etc. In 2024, we've done more than 270 charter-related services across the country, and that doesn't include the professional sports charters—like NBA and NFL—we handle for our clients. For these, we work with the FBOs (Fixed-base Operators) and airline facilities on planning and execution.

“The Charter Business Is Growing For Us, but we Are Intentional About How we Pursue It Because we need to Always Ensure We Have The Resources and People to Support them”

The charter business is growing for us, but we are intentional about how we pursue it because we need to always ensure we have the resources and people to support them. It doesn't take away from our regular flight schedule.

What are some of the challenges with charter service?

One of the biggest challenges is timing. We have to be able to work charter requests into our regular schedule, and they also often come with additional processes that we need to have with our commercial or cargo flights. For example, there can often be a marketing aspect—changing logos, headrests, or even a red carpet for VIP photo-ops.  

Sometimes, their folks come in and want the aircraft facing a different direction; a little more hand-holding is required.

We try to staff the charters with more experienced employees on the charter flights, those who've done it before and know the additional requirements. You also want to avoid staffing any starstruck employee if it's a charter with athletes or celebrities. Employees who get distracted are a safety issue, and we need to pay attention to the task at hand at all times. We're fortunate to have employees at Unifi who are highly experienced with charter flights.

So, while these contracts are more work, they are great value for the business and provide our employees with something new to work on and additional challenges. They also definitely gain valuable skills working on charter contracts.

Any interesting stories you can share?

When I was in Hawaii with Hawaiian Airlines—they were doing a test of the Airbus 380, and the CEO of Hawaiian Airlines wanted a photo op with the Airbus 380, the 330, and a small vintage Bellanca plane. He wanted all the flights nose-to-nose, and this was a challenging feat. It took us six hours from planning and measuring to taking the photos. But that's what charter services can be—you might be securing dozens of wheelchairs for one flight and measuring the ramp space for a photo-op for another.