With StandardAero dealing in engines, airframes, avionics and completions, keeping priorities and messaging clear is in the hands of Phoenix-based marketing and corporate communications director Mike Turner
What led you into aviation?
My career path began in marketing at a public relations firm and university in Omaha, Nebraska. With a strong desire to fly, I worked full time while taking flight lessons and night classes to complete my degrees.
I attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Aviation Institute, where I earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in aviation administration and commercial and flight instructor certificates.
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© StandardAeroTurner does not enjoy turning away advertising salespeople |
It just kind of worked out for me to be able to combine marketing and aviation into a career. I currently hold a commercial pilot licence, although I have very little opportunity to exercise it these days.
What was your first job in aviation?
My first real aviation job was with Elliott Aviation in aircraft sales/marketing. I had done some aviation internships previously. Marketing and selling, as well as flying, new and used Beechcraft Bonanzas was by far the most fun job I have had. After a few years in this role, I moved to its headquarters in Moline, Illinois as director of marketing.
After Elliott, I worked for Sullivan Higdon & Sink, an advertising agency in Wichita, working on the Rockwell Collins account. A year or so later, I moved to Hawker Beechcraft in a public relations role.
How does Phoenix compare with Wichita?
Wichita is definitely the air capital of the world, but global economics have caught up with the industry there, forcing changes to industry business models. We loved Wichita and if we could have stayed, we would have.
We live in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert, which is a beautiful area with fantastic weather in the winter time. There are so many activities to do here that there really is no excuse for being bored - hiking, biking, golf, football, basketball and so on. However, it is a huge city and the commute time is quite long.
And the heat in the summer can be brutal.
What led you to your post at StandardAero?
I came to StandardAero from Wichita, where there were few job opportunities. The company was looking for a corporate communications manager at the time and had just rebranded as the new StandardAero. The timing was perfect.
What are your duties there?
My duties encompass leading the marketing team, including corporate communications, public relations, marketing communications and trade shows.
Is there stress in being a public face for an entire company?
The primary stress is not knowing whether what you intended to say is interpreted and printed publicly in the way you wanted it said. There is only so much control you can have over what gets printed. You usually have only one shot to get it right.
Our industry trade press does a really nice job of working to get the message right, but the mainstream media outlets are often only concerned with sensationalism.
What is the best part of your job?
The opportunity to be involved in such a large array of projects and apply a variety of marketing tools to develop solutions to the challenges at hand.
StandardAero has a very diverse portfolio of businesses, allowing us to be involved in several different market sectors and product lines. It is a challenge, but a ton of fun too.
What is the most boring or least enjoyable task you have?
The least enjoyable task I must deal with is the process of turning down advertising salespeople for ad placements. There is never enough budget to support even a fraction of the industry publications out there.
Source: Flight International
