Overnight, jetAVIVA Grows Grizzly-Sized

jetAVIVA President and CEO Cyrus Sigari, who also shared the news of his recent bucket list experience---spending a day with a live grizzly bear---said the move was the same kind of "big, hairy audacious goal." The acquisition of Kansas Aircraft by jetAVIVA, Sigari said, will make his Austin, Texas-based company, already the largest light jet sales organization, even bigger, expanding its base of operations to include Kansas Aircraft's Olathe, Kansas (KIXD) sales center.

Key is that the acquisition will include the team from Kansas Aircraft, headed by Tim and Dianne White, longtime industry figures with impressive résumés. Tim White, who has held numerous top-level sales positions at Cessna and Bombardier with billions in sales success during his tenure at those companies, will assume the position of managing partner, while Dianne White, one-time VP of Communications at Cessna and longtime editor in chief of Twin and Turbine magazine, will become the VP of Customer Experience. Sigari also announced that industry veteran Dustin Cordier, who worked in senior sales positions at Cessna and Embraer, has been named managing partner.

In a phone interview, Dianne White told Plane & Pilot that the expanded company would continue the work that both jetAVIVA and Kanas Aircraft began in offering a customer experience to its clients that mirrored that of new airplane companies. Customers, White said, would be able to take advantage of jetAVIVA's extensive inventory to move up in models as their experience and needs grew. No word on whether any grizzly bear experiences would be available as part of the customer experience, but given the audacity of the announcement, we wouldn't be surprised.

Learn more at jetaviva.com.