West Star has promoted Ray Sharp to the position of director of maintenance at its St Louis Regional airport facility in East Alton, Illinois, overseeing all maintenance programmes.

Sharp's career began as an Airframe and Powerplant technician at Cessna, and he later joined StandardAero, where he dedicated 25 years to the company. Over time, he advanced to the role of director of operations, managing both the airframe and avionics departments in the corporate aviation division. His diverse experience includes working with a wide range of airframes such as Falcon, Hawker, Learjet, Cessna, Challenger and Gulfstream.

“Ray brings a wealth of knowledge in business aviation maintenance, avionics and modifications to his new role. His extensive experience in the aviation industry makes him an excellent fit for this position,” says Brian Bauwens, vice president/general manager at East Alton.