Leadership at MD Helicopters

Meet the committed team earning your trust daily

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM

PRESIDENT & CEO

Ryan Weeks

Chief Financial Officer

Fred Kaplan

Chief Pilot

Dennis Banks

Chief Administrative Officer

Cheryl Bazzell

Vice President, Aftermarket & Supply Chain

Daniel Searcy

Vice President, Operations

James Rodriguez

Senior Director, Sales & Marketing

Luis Trejo

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chairman of the Board

Edward Dolanski

Board Member

GEN (ret.) Gustave Perna

Board Member

Paul "Flip" Huffard

Board Member

Daniel Avitabile

Board Member

John Greene

We are committed to our customers.

“MD has always done an amazing job at helping me learn, answering all my questions, and providing great training! Great people here!”

President & CEO

Ryan Weeks

Ryan came to MD Helicopters after working for Bell/Textron for more than 25 years in various roles, including as the leader of aftermarket product support and aftermarket business optimization for Bell Helicopter and as Chief Engineer for all Bell Commercial Products. Most recently, he led Honeywell Aerospace’s Marketing and Product Management, Avionics for the past three years. Ryan holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Tech University and an MBA from Wayne State University.

Chief Financial Officer

Fred Kaplan

Fred has over 35+ years of experience in defense and aerospace, aviation and consulting industries, as well as CEO, COO, and CFO roles in public and private sector environments. Fred held positions with progressive levels of responsibilities for Eastern Aero, Patten Co., Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, Priva Technologies and City of Chicago, and the Department of Aviation. Fred has his MS in Finance from the University of Illinois and his BS in Commerce with a major in Finance from Depaul University.

Chief Pilot

Dennis Banks

Dennis has over 37 years of aviation experience of aviation service. His passion for helicopters started with the U.S. Army, Where he served for 25 years and retired as a Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) as a Standardization Instructor Pilot. After retirement, he performed duties overseas as a Lead Pilot and Country Standardization officer with DynCorp on the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) contract for five years. Dennis was the Chief Pilot for a 133 operator in Texas for a few years before starting his tenure at M.D. Helicopters as an Instructor Pilot. He developed and implemented the M.D. Helicopters military training program for training within the U.S. and overseas, and now brings his passion and dedication to training for both commercial and military customers as the Chief Pilot.

Vice President, Global Human Resources

Cheryl Bazzell

Cheryl joined MD Helicopters in 2014 with more than 30 years of aerospace experience and a proven track record in leading human resources initiatives. She worked her way up the leadership ranks at Rockwell Collins first as Vice President of Business Partners, then as Vice President of Human Resources Operations, and finally as Vice President of Total Remuneration – Compensation and Benefits before coming to MD. Cheryl is responsible for setting world-class human capital strategies and overseeing the day-to-day activities of Talent Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits, Employee Relations, Learning & Development, Compliance, and Employee Engagement. She has a BS degree from Montana State University and an MS in Human Resource Management from Chapman University.

Vice President, Aftermarket

Daniel Searcy

Dan is leading our Aftermarket business. Dan is responsible for continuing to grow the aftermarket business and the tactics for executing the plan, working closely with supply chain and operations. Before this role, Dan was the Sr. Director of Aftermarket Customer Engagement. Dan began his career with MD Helicopters in September 2014 and has held positions with increased responsibilities in Aftermarket and Finance. Before joining MD, Dan worked for US Airways and JP Morgan Chase. Dan holds a BS in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle University.

Vice President, Operations

James Rodriguez

James is a dynamic, results-oriented leader with more than 25 years of proven experience in operations management, design engineering, project & program management and strategic global sourcing. He is responsible for the overall execution of the production delivery schedule for single-engine military, law enforcement, and commercial aircraft.  James’ functional responsibilities include FAA Part 21 Manufacturing Operations, FAA Part 145 Completions/ Repair & Overhaul, Production Planning, Manufacturing Engineering and Facilities.

Prior to joining MD Helicopters, James held a number of senior level positions at industry-leading aerospace at companies including Vice President of Engineering, Vice President of Strategic Business Consolidation and Vice President of Global Metals Procurement at Meggitt PLC, Vice President of Engineering and Project Management for Barksdale Controls (a Crane Co.), and Director of Engineering & Project Management at AMETEK Aerospace & Defense.

James earned a Master of Business Administration in Management and Technology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He also holds certifications in Accelerating New Product Development from Caltech; Building, Leading and Sustaining the Innovative Organization from MIT; and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt through GE Aircraft Engines.

Senior Director, Sales & Marketing

Luis Trejo

Luis is a sales and business development professional with over 15+ years in the aerospace industry. He’s held varying roles ranging across operations, supply chain, and sales functions during this time. His experience in the acquisition and sustainment of aircraft has allowed him to achieve success in managing the execution of sales of new and preowned aircraft as well as the aftermarket support, in established and emerging markets both domestically and internationally at companies such as Able Aerospace, Textron Aviation, and Bell. Luis holds both a BS and MBA degree from Arizona State University (Go Devils!).

Chairman of the board

Edward Dolanski

Fortune 50 business executive with 30+ years of experience leading organizations through performance turnarounds and into sustained growth. Dolanski’s experience includes President, Boeing Government Services, President & CEO Aviall (a Boeing company), and Vice President, Raytheon Aircraft Company (Hawker Beechcraft Customer Support / Aftermarket).

Board Member

GEN (ret.) Gustave Perna

Board Member (chair, governance & compliance committee): served as Chief Operating Officer for Operation Warp Speed, in which he co-led the partnership of government, academia, and industry to successfully accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics for the Nation. As Commander of U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), one of the Army’s largest commands with over 190,000 military, civilian and contractor employees, he was responsible for installations, logistics, sustainment, and materiel readiness around the world.

Board Member

Paul "Flip" Huffard

(chair, audit committee): 30+ year restructuring veteran with extensive financial management experience including as Senior Managing Director at Blackstone’s Restructuring and Reorganization Group.

Board Member

Daniel Avitabile

Board Member: President and Chief Risk Officer of MBIA Corp.

Board Member

John Greene

Partner and Portfolio Manager at Bardin Hill Investment Partners.