Authors

Since the European Union first announced plans to implement its Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) in spring 2009, Universal® Supervisor of Regulatory Services Adam Hartley has established himself as an expert at helping operators comply with this complicated and ever-changing regulation. Adam’s passion is helping operators complete their emissions monitoring plans and he has established himself as the ”go-to” person on this topic. Adam’s expertise has earned him numerous invitations to speak both domestically and internationally at major industry events and conferences. Although he is best known for his EU-ETS knowledge, Adam’s expertise extends to other areas of regulatory compliance issues, such as TSA Waivers, Border Overflight Exemptions, all CBP/APIS notifications, Universal’s Visa Waiver Program, and more. Adam has been featured in numerous industry trade publication produced and has contributed guest editorials to Professional Pilot, BART, World Aircraft Sales, and Altitudes. You can reach Adam at adamhartley@univ-wea.com.

Universal Aviation Brazil Country Manager Andre Camargo has more than 20 years’ experience in the aviation industry in both ground handling and flight operations management. Based in Sao Paulo, Andre is an expert on operations to and from Brazil. Prior to joining Universal in 2005, his previous roles included helping develop operations and customer service departments at Varig Airlines and Ogden/Menzies Group in Brazil. Andre holds both a law degree from the Universidade Cidade de Sao Paulo and an MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas. He can be reached at andrecamargo@universalaviation.aero.

Bobby D. Butler, Jr. is Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Internal Audit of Universal. Bobby has extensive experience with compliance and international business issues and is a regular speaker on subjects such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), global anti-bribery, export controls, economic sanctions, anti-boycott, anti-trust and the like. Bobby is the former Chairman of the Board of International Compliance Professionals Association (ICPA) and a member of the Houston District Export Council. In addition, he holds membership positions with the Ethics and Compliance Officers Association, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, the Greater Houston Business Ethics Roundtable and the American Bar Association. He is adjunct faculty with the University of Houston and Houston Community College. In addition, he serves on the advisory boards for University of Houston's Supply Chain and Logistics Technology Degree Program and Houston Community College's Business Curriculum and Export Academy. Bobby is a certified Compliance and Ethics Professional and holds a Masters in Business Administration - International Business with honors from Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas. In addition, he holds a BA in Political Science from Loyola University, New Orleans, LA and completed a fellowship from Loyola's Institute of Politics. Bobby can be reached at bobbybutler@univ-wea.com.

BP Tan currently services as Sales and Supply, Asia-Pacific Region, UVair® Fuel Program. Based in Singapore, BP joined UVair in 2009 as a fuel consultant, utilizing his knowledge of aviation fuel in both the sales and supplier spectrums to help increase UVair’s presence and value to clients throughout Asia. BP has a bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore and is currently working on an MBA in Aviation with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He can be reached at boontan@univ-wea.com.

Universal® Manager of Weather and Flight Planning Curtis Ford has more than four decades of experience as a meteorologist, including nearly 30 in the United States Navy where he retired as a Lieutenant Commander. Curtis’ background includes meteorology assignments across the globe from Antarctica to Alaska. Curtis, who has been with Universal since 1996, leads a team of more than 50 meteorologists and flight planners. He can be reached at curtisford@univ-wea.com.

An FAA-Licensed Dispatcher, Christine Vamvakas is an expert in all areas of trip support services, including TSA Waivers, international visa requirements, aircraft fuel ranges, operations in Greece, and charter operations throughout Europe. A native of Greece, Christine is fluent in Greek and has more than a decade’s experience working in trip support services with Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc. A former Master Trip Owner and Team Lead for Universal’s Charter Management Team, Christine has facilitated thousands of international trip legs and uses that experience in her role as a Thought Leadership Manager. Her expert commentary has been included in multiple business aviation publications, including Professional Pilot, Aviation International News, Business and Commercial Aviation, BART, and Altitudes. Christine holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Management. You can reach Christine at cvamvakas@univ-wea.com.

Dave Weil is the CEO and Founder of Flight Dept Solutions, LLC. His career in aviation spans more than two decades serving in senior executive positions with prominent business aviation companies, including 10 years at TAG Aviation USA where he was CFO and Executive Vice President. He also led TAG’s expansion into Asia and served as the first Managing Director for TAG Aviation Asia. Dave possesses a CPA and MBA and is a former Chairman of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Tax Committee. He can be reached at dweil@flightdeptsolutions.com or 650.619.5232, or you can connect with Dave on LinkedIn. This guest author’s views are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc.

Drew Barnes has more than a decade combined experience working as a corporate dispatcher and in Trip Support Services with Universal. He currently serves as a Master Trip Owner on the Delta Team and has facilitated more than 16,000 trip legs. A former Dispatch Supervisor for Altria Corporate Services, Inc. (the parent company of Philip Morris and Kraft Foods) and Manager of Scheduling and Dispatching for Kraft Foods, Drew is known for mirroring his clients’ sense of urgency and using his experience to ensure every detail from crew scheduling and duty issues, to visa requirements, and passenger logistics is handled correctly. Drew can be reached at drewbarnes@univ-wea.com.

With more than three decades of experience in business aviation and ground support, Gonzalo Barona, Managing Director, Universal Aviation Spain, is an expert on all aspects of operations to Spain. Gonzalo, who is based in Madrid, has been with Universal since the 1970s and has coordinated ground support and logistics for thousands of operations in that time. Gonzalo can be reached at gonzalobarona@univ-wea.com.

An original member of Universal’s Trip Support Services Team Europe, Master Trip Owner Greg Linton is known for being a problem solver and being solutions-oriented. He’s known for being an expert on operations around the globe, particularly to Europe, Africa, and China. Since joining Universal in 2000, Greg has facilitated more than 9,100 trip legs. He has represented Universal at numerous industry tradeshows and conventions including the European Business Aviation Association Conference & Exhibition and the National Business Aviation Association Conference. Greg has also been interviewed and contributed articles to industry publications such as Bart, Altitudes, Professional Pilot, Aviation International News, Business & Commercial Aviation and more. Prior to joining Universal, Greg served as an aircraft maintenance administration supervisor in the United States Marine Corps. Greg holds a bachelor’s degree in aviation management. He can be reached at greglinton@univ-wea.com.