Business Aviation People To Watch In 2026

Atherton will become president and CEO of Textron effective Jan. 4. She has served as president and CEO of Textron’s  Bell segment for the past eight years and has held a variety of roles during her 18 years with the company. She headed Textron Systems before joining Bell. She replaces Scott Donnelly, who is retiring.

Currier, who has led Honeywell’s Aerospace Technologies business since 2023, will take on the role of president and CEO when Honeywell Aerospace is spun off as an independent, publicly traded company in 2026. As a standalone company, Honeywell Aerospace will have more than $15 billion in sales and leading positions in engines, avionics and auxiliary power systems.

Izzard started in this role in early 2025, overseeing service center operations, government programs, field support and sales support at a time of big fleet growth and aftermarket facility services expansion. The OEM is now producing ultra-­­­­long-range G700s and G800s, as well as long-range G400, G500 and G600 aircraft. Gulfstream opened new maintenance facilities in Mesa, Arizona, and Fort Worth, Texas, and a new Technical Training Center began operating in Mesa in 2025.

Maiden leads the company at a time of great demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul and long lead times and as the company has a new owner—­Greenbriar Equity Group. After the acquisition in May, 2025, Maiden said West Star is “poised for this new era of growth and innovation and looks forward to enhancing its capabilities and expanding its reach within the business aviation market.”

Moore was named CEO of inflight connectivity provider Gogo in December 2024 after Gogo acquired the privately owned Satcom Direct, where Moore was president. He is leading Gogo through the launch of Galileo, its new satellite broadband service for business aviation, as well as a new 5G air-to-ground network that has been delayed from its planned service entry in 2021.

Serial startup executive Papariella plans to start operating  Bond’s Bombardier super-midsize Challenger and large-cabin global fractional fleet in 2027, focusing on “exclusivity over scale.” Bond is the mystery buyer of the Bombardier deal announced in June valued up to $4 billion. Papariella formerly launched charter Jet Edge and financing company Aero Ventures.

Simpson provides strategic direction that helped the startup become an emerging leader in the electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle space. He helped formulate the FlightPath 2030 strategic plan that spelled out ambitious milestones for the next half-decade. Making efficient use of capital, he has overseen the flight envelope expansion campaign with a pre-production prototype to the beginning of transition flight testing. With plans to develop a conforming aircraft in 2026, Vertical appears on track to certify its VX4 air taxi with the UK Civil Aviation Authority by 2028.