Our Corporate Leadership

Bryan Bedford, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Bryan Bedford has more than 24 years of experience in the airline industry. He joined Republic in July 1999 as president and CEO. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Mesaba Holdings, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN, and Business Express Airlines, Inc. in Boston, MA. During his 14 years at the helm of Republic, the airline has grown from $85 million in revenues and 36 turboprop aircraft to more than $2.8 billion in revenues and an operating fleet of 280 aircraft.

In 1997 and again in 2004, Regional Airline World named him Airline Executive of the Year. In 2009, he was given the same honor by Airline Business. In 1998, the Minneapolis Business Journal named Mr. Bedford to its 40 under 40 list and in 2000 The Indianapolis Business Journal again named him to their 40 under 40 list. Mr. Bedford earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Florida State University and is a certified public accountant. Mr. Bedford holds a commercial, multi-engine and instrument pilot rating. 

 

 

Wayne Heller, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Wayne Heller has over 26 years experience in the regional airline industry. He joined Chautauqua in August 1999 as VP of Flight Operations. In February of 2002 he became Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and assumed responsibility for all maintenance and engineering. Before Chautauqua, he served as Managing Director of Systems Operations Control at Mesaba Holdings, Inc., where he was instrumental in the airline's phenomenal growth. Mr. Heller has served in other senior management positions at Business Express Airlines, Inc., Air Wisconsin, Inc. and Skywest Airlines, Inc. He has his commercial pilot license and is a licensed dispatcher. 

 

 

Tim Dooley, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Tim Dooley joined Chautauqua Airlines, one of Republic Airways Holdings’ subsidiaries in November of 1998 as Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis. He was promoted to Director, Financial Planning and Analysis for Republic Airways in January of 2001 and was promoted to the office of Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis for the holding company in June of 2006. Before joining Chautauqua, he was a senior auditor for Ernst & Young, LLP.

Mr. Dooley received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Marketing from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in Bloomington. He resides in Indianapolis with his wife and three children. 

 

 

Lars-Eric Arnell, Senior Vice President - Corporate Development

Lars-Eric Arnell joined Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. in September of 2002 as Vice President of Corporate Development. Prior to joining the company he held various financial positions in the transportation industry, including the regional airline, air medical transportation, truckload and global manufacturing industries. Mr. Arnell has deep knowledge and experience from financial management, restructuring, business development and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Arnell has held CFO positions in several large transportation companies including Burlington Motor Carriers, Inc., a large international trucking company based in Indiana and Business Express Airlines, Inc., a large regional airline based in the Northeastern US. Most recently Mr. Arnell was employed as the financial advisor to the Board of Directors of Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Inc. the largest helicopter air medical transportation company in the US.

Mr. Arnell also has received invaluable global experience from his employment with ABB and SAAB, where he held various financial management positions in Sweden, England and in the USA. Mr. Arnell holds a Bachelor Degree in Finance from Linkoping University combined with an eighteen (18) month Management Trainee Program within SAAB. 

 

 

Joe Allman, Vice President and Treasurer

Joe Allman joined Republic Airways in July of 2007 as Director of Finance. In June of 2009, he was promoted to the position of Vice President and Controller.

Before joining the Company, Mr. Allman, who is a certified public accountant, gained extensive experience applying his finance, accounting and audit expertise to the airline and utilities sectors at managing positions with London Witte Group LLC and Deloitte and Touche LLP.

Mr. Allman is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where he earned a B.S. in Management and subsequently achieved the rank of Lieutenant. Mr. Allman resides in Indianapolis with his wife and three children.  

 

 

Jerry Balsano, Vice President - Customer Service

Jerry Balsano has over 30 years experience in the regional airline industry. He joined Chautauqua Airlines in April of 1979 as a customer service manager and was later promoted to Director of Stations. Mr. Balsano was appointed Vice President of Customer Service in June of 1998.

 

 

Ethan Blank, Vice President and Corporate Counsel

Ethan Blank joined Republic Airways in February 2012 as Vice President and Corporate Counsel. Mr. Blank comes to Republic with 20 years of legal experience, most recently as a partner in the law firm of Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, P.C. in Baltimore, Maryland. He has participated in all aspects of complex transactions for major financial institutions, public companies, transportation carriers and international investors. His background includes a variety of airline industry transactions including loans, leases, and leveraged leases of aircraft; private placements with aircraft and equipment collateral; securitizations of aircraft lease receivables and airline working capital financings.

 

 

Rose Doria, Vice President - Labor Relations

Rose Doria joined Republic Airways Holdings in January 2013. She has more than 30 years of aviation/airline experience with carriers including Business Express Airlines, Midway Airlines, American Eagle, American Airlines and NetJets. Rose’s aviation/airline experience includes 18 years concentrating on Labor and Employee Relations Management. Most recently, Rose served as the Managing Partner at Barrett Doria Partners, a Labor Relations and Human Resources Consulting Practice working exclusively with American Airlines.

 

 

Thomas Duffy, Vice President - Technical Services

Thomas Duffy has over 27 years experience in the airline industry and is a licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic. He joined Chautauqua Airlines in March of 2002 as Director Quality Assurance and Engineering. He was promoted to Vice President Technical Services for Republic Airways Holdings in September of 2006. Prior to joining Chautauqua Airlines, Mr. Duffy held senior management positions at several companies including Midway Airlines, Braniff Airlines and most recently Flight Options Inc.

 

 

Scott Durgin, Vice President - Administration and Lean Methods

Scott Durgin has over 30years experience in the regional airline industry. He joined Republic Airways Holdings in May of 2005 as the company’s Vice President – Strategic Alliances. Prior to joining Republic, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Shuttle America Corporation a regional airline headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mr. Durgin served as Vice President – Customer Service for Mesaba Holdings, Inc. the parent company of Mesaba Airlines from 1996 to 2001. Mr. Durgin has held various other senior management positions at Business Express Airlines, Express Airlines I, Inc. and Pilgrim Airlines.

Mr. Durgin holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of New Haven in New Haven, CT and has completed the Minnesota Executive Program from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. He resides in Carmel, Indiana with his wife Laurie and their two children.

 

 

Bradley Elstad, Vice President - Safety and Regulatory Compliance

Brad Elstad is responsible for the administration of Republic Airways Holdings’ safety department at its corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. Brad has spent nearly 20 years in the aviation industry, serving in various operational or safety and regulatory compliance positions with Part 121 airlines.

He was appointed to his current position with Republic Airways Holdings in October of 2007. From 1995 through 2007, he held positions at US Airways wholly-owned subsidiary PSA Airlines’ initially within the airline’s System Operations Control (SOC), and concluding with his seven-year tenure as the Company’s Director of Safety and Regulatory Compliance. He has also instructed graduate-level aviation coursework at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Dayton-area campus in Ohio.

Brad holds a commercial, multi-engine pilot license and is also a certificated aircraft dispatcher. He received his Bachelors Degree from St. Cloud State University and his Masters Degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. 

 

 

Pat Gannon, Vice President - System Operations Control

Pat Gannon joined Republic with Shuttle America in 2002 and held supervisory and management positions in SOC before moving to Line Pilot and Check Airman. Mr. Gannon also has served as Manager of Standards, Program Manager and Assistant Chief Pilot during his tenure with the Company and has served as Executive Council Chairman for IBT Local 357, which represents the Company’s pilots. Mr. Gannon is responsible for providing guidance and oversight to all three regional subsidiaries Dispatch and Crew Scheduling departments.

 

 

Jeff Jones, Vice President - Market Planning and Development

Jeff Jones has worked more than 30 years in the airline industry. He joined Chautauqua Airlines in January of 2000 as the company’s Vice President, Market Planning and Development. He has retained this position as the company has grown from having a single codeshare marketing relationship, to Republic’s current conglomeration of airline operating certificates and marketing relationships. Jeff is the primary flight scheduling and planning liaison between Republic and its marketing partners on the Fixed-fee side of the business. Prior to joining the company, he was Director of Market Planning for Mesaba Holdings, Inc., and held several management positions with Northwest, the earlier Republic, and North Central Airlines in planning, scheduling and marketing.

Jeff received his MBA from the University of St. Thomas, and a B.A. degree from Minnesota State University majoring in Economics and International Relations. He is a frequent speaker at industry events, and enjoys a blessed life with his wife, and their children and grandchildren.

 

 

Paul Kinstedt, Vice President - Flight Operations

Paul Kinstedt joined Chautauqua Airlines, one of Republic Airways Holdings’ subsidiaries, in January 2002 as Director of Systems Operations Control. He was promoted to Vice President of System Operations Control for the Company’s three wholly owned subsidiaries in September 2006 and served in that capacity until January 2013, when he was named Vice President of Flight Operations. Before joining Chautauqua, Mr. Kinstedt was Vice President of Customer Service and Director of Flight Control for Midway Airlines.

Mr. Kinstedt received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Science from Parks College of Saint Louis University in St. Louis Missouri and his Masters of Business Administration from Illinois Benedictine College. He holds an aircraft dispatcher and commercial, multi-engine and instrument pilot rating.

 

 

Richard Meyer, Vice President - Human Resources

Richard Meyer joined Republic Airways Holdings in August of 2011 as Vice President of Human Resources with extensive experience in both Human Resources and Labor Relations. Prior to joining Republic he spent nearly 20 years with ATA Airlines with responsibility for both HR and Labor Relations, preceded by 13 years with Cummins in a variety of HR roles. He is a graduate of Ball State University and attended the executive education Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School. Mr. Meyer and his wife, Kathy, reside in Indianapolis.

 


Drew Skaff, Vice President - Supply Chain

As Supply Chain vice president, Drew Skaff directs purchasing, material control, repair and warranty, spare parts inventory management, fuel administration, and additional Supply Chain functions across the Republic Airways enterprise. Skaff joined Frontier in August of 2000 as Director of Purchasing. Skaff has over 19 years of industry experience and previous to his leadership position at Frontier he supported AirTran Airways as Director of Purchasing and worked at America West Airlines. He has been published numerous times in several industry and Supply Chain periodicals. He earned an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College in 2000 and Bachelor of Science of Finance from Arizona State University.  

 

 

Ryan Willman, Vice President and Controller

As Vice President and Corporate Controller, Ryan oversees Republic’s Tax, Internal Audit, General Accounting and Financial Reporting departments. Ryan joined Republic from BrightPoint USA, a global leader in wireless device lifecycle services, where he was responsible for accounting, reporting, consolidation, compliance, activity-based costing, working capital management and finance business process support for the unit.

 

 

Aaron Workman, Vice President - Information Technology

Aaron Workman joined Chautauqua Airlines in 1979 and has over seen the Information Technology department for the past twelve years. During his airline career, Aaron has held management responsibilities, including Customer Service Manager-Florida, Sales Manager & Manager of Inventory Control, and Director of Information Technology.