Bob Rufli, VP and director of flight operations at Pentastar Aviation, a Michigan-based operator, FBO and MRO, has been named as the new chairman of The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF). A new ACSF vice chairman will be announced shortly. Rufli succeeds Joshua Hebert, founder and CEO of Magellan Jets, whose term expired on 30 June.

Rufli has over 35 years experience in aviation operations of large and small business jet aircraft in FAR Part 135, 121 supplemental and 125 corporate operations, including extensive knowledge of FAA operational certification and certificate merger projects. He has been involved with several mergers and acquisitions implementing metrics driven processes and safety management cultures and programmes.

“Bob has been an invaluable member of the ACSF executive committee and board of governors,” says ACSF president Bryan Burns. “He brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience as a leader in the aviation industry. His relentless pursuit to improve and enhance the foundation's ongoing risk management programmes is admirable. This past year held many challenges, however ACSF continues to expand their membership and safety programmes.”