Plane Conversations

Allen Howell, CEO Corporate Flight Management, Inc.

I have been in this business for 27 years now and for the last 11 years been at the helm of CFM. I grew up flying and hanging out at the airport with a father who has been in aviation for 54 years now.  I have been fortunate to have worked with many smart and successful people over the last three decades. During that time I have gained a wealth of experience and stories about this industry, what works and doesn’t work. I want to share with you the sides of this business that come from an insider – issues about safety, operations, and economics of the business and operating aircraft. All in an effort to take the mystery out of what we do and bring value to you if you are considering the use of private aircraft as a means to travel. Equally important to me is to learn from you. Our industry hasn’t done a good job listening to the market and in many ways we are paying the price for that closed mindedness. We want to innovate and get better at providing something of value to you and we need your help to make it happen. I look forward to the plane conversations we will have.

Rachel Charlize, Travel Writer/Client Relations Manager, Corporate Flight Management, Inc.

Almost two and a half years ago I made the journey to the US from Queensland, Australia with the task of starting a new life ahead of me.  It was a year and a half ago when I began working for Corporate Flight Management, with no experience in aviation, apart from hanging around my Grandfather’s glider when I was about 4 years old.  But I was soon bitten by the aviation bug.  I have found the aviation industry to be one filled with fun and excitement, with highly skilled and passionate professionals whom I have come to respect and admire.  This job allows me to realize my passion of travel and creativity, for meeting new and wonderful people, and my new-found love of flight. My blogs will be focused on discovering and sharing unique destinations I have traveled to in our corporate aircraft. Stories detailing my experiences so you can know firsthand what these wonderful US destinations have to offer.  I will also be blogging about my journey from being just a regular girl, to that of a “Fly Girl” (or Pilot). I hope to share entertaining and educational stories about my experiences, and I encourage you to join in on these conversations.

“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”  Leonardo Da Vinci

Jon Anne Doty, Charter Sales Manager Corporate Flight Management, Inc.

I grew up in Brookhaven, MS, a small town where the only aircraft I saw on a regular basis were the ones flying overhead to spray pesticide for fire ants.  However, I vaguely remember the first moon landing and grew up with idols like Neil Armstrong and Chuck Yeager.  Even so, a career in aviation really wasn’t on my radar, so to speak, until after I graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in liberal arts. I’ve always been an avid traveler with visits to 19 other countries under my belt; so, you can see that aviation and travel are both vacations and avocations for me.  In the past nearly twenty years, I have worked as a travel agent, as an agent and supervisor for a scheduled airline and as a scheduler, manager and marketer for unscheduled airlines and, as a result, I have a unique view of the industry, its trends and changes. I will be sharing with you some of my experiences in my various careers and some of the knowledge I’ve gained over the years.  Having seen the industry from several different directions, I believe that we offer a product that is a viable tool for both business and personal travel.  I look forward to sharing some “insider” info with you and hearing what you have to say.  Thanks for joining in the dialogue.

Jay Deragon is a Senior Consultant with Social Media Directions and in partnership with Plane Conversations.

His professional career includes providing strategic management consulting practices for Fortune 500 companies as well as local small businesses. He has consulted with numerous industries spanning over 25 years of professional experience globally.

His current professional endeavors are all centric to the disruptive nature of the social web. He writes at Relationship Economy and provides social media strategic services to businesses large and small.

He is Co-Author of The Emergence of The Relationship Economy released in January of 08 and can be accessed here.

The book was a collaborative effort with three other authors, Scott Allen, Carter Smith and Margaret Orem and the forward is written by Doc Searls, Co-Author of The Cluetrain Manifesto. Doc Searls is a Berkman Fellow and co-author of the business best-seller “The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual”

Jay Deragon has also written a second book titled Socialutions: The Emergence of New Management Methods.

His blog, The Relationship Economy, is rated within the top 150 blogs rated by Advertising Age. He is an international speaker and has conducted in excess of 100 seminars on a variety of topics.

His formal education started at the University of Maine with continued education at Dartmouth College, Penn State and the University of Wisconsin. He has certification as a Certified Quality Engineer, Quality Function Deployment, Advanced Risk Management, Statistical Process Control, Hoshin Kanri, D.I.S.C Instructor, Organizational Change Management and Strategic Planning.

To learn more about his professional life you can review his Linkedin profile here. His blog is ranked with AdAge Power 150

email: jay.deragon@gmail.com

Dan Robles, PE, MBA, is the Director of The Ingenesist Project in Seattle, WA.

His Seattle-based The Ingenesist Project is a private think tank that predicts and specifies elements of the next economic paradigm as built on a platform of social media.  Mr. Robles helps organizations identify future disruptions to their existing strategies and assists in implementing ways to exploit or evade such disruptions.  His clients are mostly from the aerospace, higher education, finance, and diverse corporate marketing concerns.

Dan is a licensed professional Engineer and holds an MBA in International Business.  He has many years experience in the Aerospace Industry working on programs from the Space Shuttle to the 777.  Most recently, he held global account management positions in aircraft acquisition and aircraft service engineering at Boeing where he commissioned over 3 billion dollars worth of aviation products. 

Dan has worked extensively in Higher Education as an Associate Professor of Business Management at the City University of Seattle, Cogswell College, and CETYS University in Mexicali, Mexico.  He is a recognized researcher stemming from his participation in the NAFTA negotiations for the international recognition of engineering professionals and his controversial specifications for an innovation economy. 

Dan is also a prolific blogger to several top social media communities as well as his own company blog. His notable experience in the Hollywood entertainment industry in both special effects and performance add a refreshing creative twist to his perception and articulation of complex associations among disparate objectives.

Blake Tumbleson, President, CFM Jet (A Division of Corporate Flight Management, Inc.)

Blake is a third generation aircraft sales professional, following in the footsteps of his father, Bill Tumbleson and grandfather, Gene Tumbleson.  “As a kid I would marvel as I watched my Dad and “GeGe” on the phone selling planes.  They were so charismatic and seemed to really enjoy their jobs.  I wasn’t always certain that I wanted to sell planes, but I was convinced that I wanted to have that much fun…and get paid for it!”   Over the past twenty-plus years Blake has completed hundreds of deals and hundreds of millions of dollars in aircraft transactions, as both a Buyer’s Agent and Sales Consultant. 

Blake’s philosophy and principles guide him to conduct business with professionalism, honesty and high ethical conduct.  “I’ll negotiate hard for my client, but negotiation should be professional and respectful toward all parties.  As a buyer’s agent, I take the emotion out of the deal for my client, ensuring their best interests.  When we close the transaction, I want everyone to feel that they were in good hands and were treated professionally and fairly, while building solid, long term relationships…. and having a lot of fun- just like my dad and grandfather.”

Blake holds an Associates Degree (LLCC-Springfiled, IL) and Bachelors Degree (University of Tennessee-Knoxville, TN).

Mark Blanks, Assistant Professor Middle Tennesee State University Aerospace Department

Mark Blanks was born and raised in Middle Tennessee and has been involved in the aviation industry for most of his life. He began flying at the age of 16, earned his private pilot’s license at the age of 17 and his instrument rating two years later. While attending MTSU he worked in various aviation positions from line service to apprentice aircraft maintenance technician.

Mr. Blanks graduated in 2004 from MTSU with a B.S. degree in Aerospace Maintenance Management with a minor in Industrial Studies. Following graduation he was offered a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) with the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) in Tullahoma, TN. His work as a GRA involved maintaining UTSI’s fixed-wing and rotor-wing aircraft, as well as designing and installing flight test instrumentation for the university’s flight test aircraft. He was eventually offered the position of Project Engineer for a major U.S. military contract conducted at UTSI’s Flight Research facilities. After graduating with a M.S. degree in Aviation Systems from UTSI, Mr. Blanks worked as an Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) for a local general aviation shop and rose quickly to become the General Manager of the company.

In June 2008, Mr. Blanks accepted a position with a local aircraft manufacturer supervising their new aircraft certification program. He was responsible for the design and implementation of both structural and flight tests to substantiate aircraft design standards. In addition to his maintenance and flight test experience, Mr. Blanks was also the Project Lead for the installation of ADS-B units in MTSU’s fleet of Diamond DA-40 aircraft.

Mr. Blanks accepted the position of Assistant Professor for MTSU’s Aerospace Department in the fall of 2009. He is a federally licensed Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) technician with an Inspection Authorization. He is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and his two primary research interests are aviation maintenance human factors and aviation ethics.