Washington, DC (Tuesday, June 13, 2023) – The Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA or “the Association”) announced the results of the Board of Directors elections during the Association’s Annual Meeting on Monday, June 5, 2023, in Orlando, Florida.
Elected to a three-year term on the AFRA Board of Directors, effective immediately, are:
Lee McConnellogue, Chief Executive Officer, ecube
Maylin Salgado, Vice President, ESG and Global Quality Systems, GA Telesis
Simon Upton, Operations Manager, Air Salvage
Appointed by the Board of Directors to serve one-year terms, effective immediately, are:
James Garcia, Director Fleet Asset Trading, United Airlines
Sydney Blocher, Vice President Program Management, Boeing Global Services
The AFRA Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the Association’s management and developing its long-term financial and strategic plans. Directors dedicate significant personal time to help communicate and promote AFRA’s mission and programs to relevant stakeholders and identify membership concerns that AFRA’s mission, objectives, and programs can address.
The current AFRA Board of Directors and officers are as follows:
AFRA President Brent Webb, CAVU Aerospace
AFRA Vice President Bettina Berger, GOAL German Operation Aircraft Leasing GMBH & Co. KG
AFRA Treasurer Lee McConnellogue, ecube
AFRA Secretary James Cobbold, Willis Aviation Services Limited
Maylin Salgado, GA Telesis LLC
Simon Upton, Air Salvage International Ltd. (ASI)
Manuel Lopez, Jet Aircraft Services
Pedro Lama, Aviation International Recycling, S.L.
Barry Barnes, COMAV Technical Services, LLC
Sydney Blocher, Boeing Global Services
Fabian Nagel, Lufthansa Technik AG
James Garcia, United Airlines, Inc.
About AFRA
AFRA is the leading global organization for developing and promoting the safe and sustainable management of end-of-life aircraft and components. It is a membership-based global Association to elevate industry performance and increase commercial value for end-of-service aircraft. For more information on AFRA activities, programs, and initiatives, please visit us at www.AFRAassociation.org.
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AFRA is holding the annual Board of Directors election. Election is for three (3) positions on the Board in 2023 as per the AFRA Bylaws. AFRA members in good standing can vote for a maximum of three (3) individuals but cannot submit multiple votes for the same individual. Only one ballot per member company may be submitted.
Lee joined ecube in 2022 to guide the business in enabling strategic growth across sites in the UK, Spain, and USA. With an abundance of experience in the aerospace sector, Lee has previously held roles at Monarch Aircraft Engineering, Flybe and Rolls Royce PLC, where he was Senior Vice President of Service Operations. Lee has served on AFRA’s Board of Directors and as the Board Treasurer for the past year.
Maylin Salgado Vice President of ESG and Global Quality Systems GA Telesis
Maylin is the Vice President of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) as well as Global Quality Systems, GA Telesis. Her position drives the execution of the ESG strategy by working with internal stakeholders to gather, analyze and report on various ESG metrics and targets while also directing and coordinating compliance with all applicable standards for Global Quality Systems.
Maylin began her aviation career in 1998, gaining experience and expertise through industry leaders such as American Composites, Express Jet Services and Air France/KLM. She progressed from a repair station position to various management roles in the Quality Assurance sector, while strengthening industry relationships. Maylin has been a vital part of the GA Telesis quality team for 10 years.
Throughout her career, Maylin has been involved with implementing and maintaining various quality standards, including AS 9110, 9120, ISO 14001, ASA-100, CAMAC, AFRA. Maylin is a familiar face throughout the industry and is often called upon for quality guidance and regulation interpretation. Maylin has served on the AFRA Board of Directors for the past year.
Simon Upton Operations Manager Air Salvage International
Simon is the Operations Manager for Air Salvage International (ASI) overseeing the part-out of up to 30 aircraft and sections per year. Simon’s department also undertakes bespoke projects to re-purpose redundant aircraft sections and parts. The teams efforts can be seen in flight simulators through to many movie productions and training colleges.
Simon honed his skillset working at IBM for nearly 30 years where he rose to be Senior Acquisitions Integrator. Empowering new teams to work together and deliver what the customer expected proved to be a great platform for Simon’s move to ASI, where Simon works closely with clients to extract the best value from their redundant commercial aviation assets.
Since joining ASI Simon’s focus has been to make the company more customer centric whilst introducing great flexibility, mobility and productivity to ASI’s workforce. Simon has served on the AFRA Board of Directors for the last 4 months.
Will Smith General Manager of Operations and Accountable Manager Universal Asset Management
Will Smith is the General Manager of Operations & Accountable Manager at Universal Asset Management. He is a 13-year aviation professional with a multitude of skills acquired under different roles and responsibilities. Will started at UAM in 2014 upon honorable active-duty separation from the United States Air Force where he was a KC-135R/T Aircraft Maintenance Technician. Within UAM, he has held various positions ranging from aircraft disassembly mechanic to quality control manager.
Will’s current role involves all aircraft maintenance and asset management activities as it relates to UAM’s portfolio of aftermarket aircraft, aircraft disassembly, asset management, managing full pipeline of aircraft end-of-life solutions, strategic planning, policy review/implementation and maintaining relationships with all our global clientele. He is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Aircraft Disassembly Center and Global Distribution Center and is the Accountable Manager for UAM’s Part 145 Repair Station. Will also serves as UAM’s direct liaison to the FAA and the local Flight Standards District Office.
Recent Achievements: Will initiative and drive lead the effort to affirm Universal Assets Management role in environmental protection which provided UAM the honor to become the 1st in the United States to achieve the AFRA Diamond Status for Disassembly and has achieved several zero-finding audits proving his ability to lead and direct to meet requirements.
A native of Tupelo, Will is a licensed FAA Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic and is a distinguished Senior NCO currently serving as a Drill Status Guardsman with the Mississippi Air National Guard, Will was recently honored as the 2023 Air Force NCO of the year for the Mississippi, Air National Guard and has achieved the rank of Master Sergeant with his unit.
