Salvatore Valentino, Flexjet's vice president of maintenance, operations and strategy, has received the FAA Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award, the highest honour available to an aviation mechanic.

Named after pioneering mechanic Charles Taylor, who built the Wright brothers' first aircraft engine, the FAA's Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award honours the lifetime achievements of senior aviation mechanics. The award requires a specific skill set for qualification including: 50 years of aviation maintenance experience; an aviation industry career; and 30 years as an FAA-certified mechanic or repairman.

As Flexjet marks its 30th anniversary, this recognition underscores the company's core philosophy that people are the foundation of a service-driven business and fundamental to operational excellence and world-class service.

“This distinguished honour is a remarkable and well-deserved achievement,” says Flexjet chief executive officer Michael Silvestro. “Sal represents the unwavering commitment and expertise of our entire Flexjet operations and strategy maintenance team of professionals who work behind the scenes to ensure the daily safety of our crews and passengers.”

Throughout the course of his career, Valentino has operated on well over 45 models of aircraft ranging from smaller bodied Stinson and Piper Navajo aircraft to jumbo jets like the Boeing 777 and a Lockheed L-1011. His interest in aviation, however, began at a much earlier age. Valentino was just three years old when his family emigrated from Italy, taking his first flight aboard a jet and settling in Cleveland.

“I'll never forget my first time in a jet,” Valentino adds. “They took our picture outside the aircraft. Everyone was smiling and looking at the camera, and instead I couldn't stop looking at the airplanes.”

Undoubtedly, this was the spark that inspired a lifetime aviation career. Starting in 1975 as part of the inaugural class at Cleveland's Aviation High School, he initially studied A&P mechanics before shifting his focus to avionics. He kicked off his career with Midwest Air Charter in Lorain County. His next stop was Atlanta where he spent 24 years in maintenance control.

“I've been wanting to do this my whole life,” he goes on. “There's always something new about aviation that's evolving; whether it's technology to troubleshooting, I always loved it.”

In 2005, he returned to Cleveland as a manager of maintenance control with Flight Options, which shifted to Flexjet in 2014 during the merger as vice president of maintenance. Amongst his accomplishments, Valentino initiated the Red Label Fleet Chief Program, which assigns technicians to the Red Label large cabin aircraft. He continues to lead his avionics team by encouraging them to ask questions and learn a new perspective whenever necessary as they move into the future with technological advancements in this constantly evolving industry.