Long-time Elite Air director of marketing and sales AJ Becker has been made an equity partner and president of the St Petersburg, Florida-headquartered aviation management and charter company. Outgoing president Gray Gibbs, who founded Elite Air in 2001, remains CEO and director of operations.

“AJ has served Elite Air extremely well for more than a decade now and he deserved to be rewarded for his hard work,” Gibbs says. “His enthusiasm for aviation has only grown over his years with the company.”

Becker, born and raised in Clearwater, Florida, landed his first aviation job while a freshman at Florida State University. He started his career with Northwest Airlink, the regional arm of Northwest Airlines, when he was 19 and worked with the company for almost two years, primarily handling customer needs as a ground service representative. The job launched an aviation career that eventually led him to Elite Air, which hired him full-time in 2008 after he had completed a period as an intern. Becker was tasked with promoting the company to end-users in the local market and he was later promoted to sales division director and assistant operations director.

As company president, Becker is more involved than ever in managing Elite Air's day-to-day operations and finances. “It's an honour to be given this opportunity,” he says. “I hope to continue to do everything I can to make Elite Air the best aviation company it can be in the many years to come.”