Exceptional People

At Sterling Aviation, our 70 seasoned professionals are dedicated to making your travel experience safe and enjoyable. The style of service we provide is highly personalized. You’ll have the confidence of not only knowing that you’re being served with quality – but also know the person who is delivering the service.

Below, a number of Sterling associates share their feelings about what makes Sterling a special place for them and for our clients.

See profile for Rob Gort, Sterling’s President & Chief Operating Officer
See profile for Roger Banaszak, Sterling’s VP of Marketing & Sales

Rising Above the Rest

The pilots of Sterling Aviation love to fly. Their pride and enthusiasm pervade everything they do. As Frank Duckwell, a third generation professional pilot, puts it, “Flying is literally in my genetic code.” Alvin Gonzalez, also from a flying family, says a passion for flight energizes him to “go above and beyond” expectations. “I want to see smiles on our clients’ faces.”

And, as Chad Weber observes, all the pilots recognize the value of being part of a full-service aviation company. “The flight experience is our major responsibility, yet it’s only one aspect of the total Sterling Experience,” he says. “The Sterling team, right up to top management, supports us so that we can concentrate on our mission to deliver safe, comfortable and on-time air travel.”

Handling All the Details

Dispatch and Client Services form the nerve center of Sterling Aviation – coordinating everything from the initial reservation to the trip’s completion. Flight schedules are formulated, aircraft and crew assigned, FBO needs determined, ground transportation and other arrangements finalized. It’s a job that demands perseverance, creativity and a healthy dose of empathy. As Carrie Hoff says, “We always try to put ourselves in the client’s shoes – to visualize the total travel experience.”

It also involves getting personal. “At Sterling, we feel personally responsible for all our clients,” says Nicolle Jelinski. “That means being proactive, double and triple checking everything, always giving honest answers, and never making excuses.”

Anticipating Needs

Superb service is a fine art – requiring the innate ability not only to hear what a client says, but also to feel all that he or she means. At Sterling Aviation, service is making sure the preferred wine label and vintage is on board. But it’s also a gentle touch of reassurance for the passenger who may be uneasy traveling by air. It’s all about creating confidence, as defined by individual client needs. “Our mission is to be in tune with our clients, alert and responsive but never intrusive,” Ann Brennan explains.

Or, as Carrie Lynn Wicht sums it up, “Clients need to know they can count on us to handle all the details, no matter how small, so that their trip will be as effortless as possible.”

Devoted to Service

Like all the people of Sterling, Greg Bach enjoys meeting clients. But he prefers that his work remains woven into the background fabric of the Sterling Experience. “When we do our work exceptionally well, we hope the client will not notice,” Greg says. “From the time they walk through the front door, to the point they get back into their car after a flight and drive away, clients should feel total satisfaction.” And it’s often extraordinary efforts behind the scenes that create this satisfaction.

“One client likes bagels from a specific bakery. Another has allergies so we make sure she has her own blanket on every flight. Once, I had to go to four stores to find a particular brand of liquor,” says Marlene Crowley. “Whatever a client needs, we will not stop until it gets done.”