Many changes in personnel and their roles have occurred within the business aviation industry in the last few months. While the National Business Aviation Association has arguably seen the most of them, a few notable others have occurred. Among them is the departure of Shelly S. Simi from her position as vice president of communications for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), where she has helped lead that organization’s public relations effort for more than 15 years. Simi last month announced her pending departure — scheduled for Dec. 31 — saying she wants to spend more time with her family. No successor has yet been named. Elsewhere, Eclipse Aviation announced a series of executive promotions last month. Both Dr. Oliver Masefield and Don Burtis were promoted to senior vice president, senior fellow. Masefield previously served as the companys senior vice president of engineering and Burtis previously led Eclipses avionics & electronics organization. Additionally, Eclipse promoted Ken Harness to become vice president of engineering. Harness, who previously served as Eclipses director of propulsion systems in the engineering organization, will assume responsibility for the day-to-day management of Eclipses engineering and avionics/electronics operations.
