OCTOBER 2025AEROSPACEDEFENSEREVIEW.COM19CXO InsightsJETSETTING JOURNEYS: A CAREER SOARING FROM JFK TO UNIFI'S UNIQUE AVIATION LANDSCAPELuigi Taliercio, Vice President of Operations, UnifiLuigi TaliercioHow 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
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