Senior appointments have been made at Mente Group, JSSI and AllianceJet finance, including two vice presidents and a new CEO.

Mente Group’s newly created position as Marketing vice president is to be filled by Chris Prokopeas (pictured left), as the recently recapitalised firm expands its platform.

Prokopeas, who will be based at the company’s Dallas headquarters, is a marketing professional with more than 25 years of experience within a variety of industries. Prior to his role with Mente, Prokopeas worked for Gesa Credit Union as chief marketing officer.

“Our recent recapitalisation enables our organisation to grow and embrace excellent talent like Chris Prokopeas as we take advantage of unfilled segments in aviation,” said Mente Group president and CEO, Brian Proctor. “His diverse expertise in a number of industries is helping us immensely as we look for new opportunities to excel on behalf of our clients.”

Over at JSSI, Trevor Merszei (pictured centre) has been appointed as vice president of Business Development for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Merszei brings over 14 years of experience in international business jet sales and marketing.

Based in Thailand, Merszei’s role will focus on increasing awareness of JSSI’s services in the region, including Conklin & de Decker and SierraTrax maintenance tracking software.

“We are thrilled to welcome Trevor to our team in APAC as JSSI continues to expand its suite of services to aircraft owners and operators,” said Mark Winzar, JSSI’s senior vice president of Business Development for EMEA and APAC. “His leadership and depth of market knowledge will be of great value in the post-Covid era, helping to not only support new entrants into our sector but also existing customers within the region.”

Merszei added: “I am proud to join JSSI as the company continues to enrich the aircraft ownership experience with innovative products and services to support our clients throughout this region. I see many exciting opportunities ahead for us to support owners and operators at every stage of the aircraft life cycle.”

Meanwhile senior changes are afoot over at AllianceJet; the Malta-based firm has just appointed Hervé Laitat (pictured right) as its new CEO. Laitat leaves his previous role as Luxaviation Group’s chief strategy officer, as well as CEO of Luxavation Belgium. An aviation veteran of over two decades, Laitat has also represented the interests of business aviation operators as a board member and treasurer of the EBAA for 15 years.

Hans Cauchi, AllianceJet chairman, said: “I am delighted to see Hervé take the helm at AllianceJet. His business aviation experience perfectly complements the invaluable knowledge I’ve gained during my career in the luxury hospitality sector.”

Laitat said: “In the face of consolidation across the business aviation industry, aircraft owners are growing louder in expressing their wish not to be seen as just a number. Owners want tailored aircraft asset management services performed by professionals who treat their aircraft as if it were our own.”