Supersonic jet manufacturer Aerion has reshuffled its board of directors – just two weeks after making four new executive hires.
Aerion has added two Boeing executives to its board following that manufacturer’s partnership and investment in Aerion at the beginning of February. The two Boeing execs are Mike Sinnet, the vice president of product strategy and future airplane programmes at Boeing commercial airplanes and Ken Shaw, vice president of supply chain at Boeing Global Services.
Regarding the board reshuffling, Aerion said: “The new five-member board is representing the interests of major shareholders and providing an impressive depth and breadth of industry experience to guide the company’s rapid growth as it pursues a supersonic renaissance.”
During his time at Boeing Sinnet helped formulate the preliminary designs of new aircraft and improve environmental performance on existing designs. He was formerly the vice president and chief engineer for the Boeing 787 project.
Shaw’s work at Boeing Global Services includes coordinating with suppliers worldwide to support Boeing aircraft.
Tom Vice remains as Aerion’s chairman and CEO. He first joined Aerion as president and COO in March 2018 and was appointed as CEO in August last year. Before joining Aerion, Vice was working at Northrop Grunman as the president of aerospace systems.
The remaining two members of the board are Bryan Barret, the CFO and vice president of Keystone Group, an affiliate of Aerion Partners L.P and a key investor in Aerion. Finally, Paul Adams joins the board after retiring as COO of Precision Castparts. He first joined Aerion as a consultant for engine development early last year and joined the board later in 2018.
Manufacturer’s backing
At the beginning of February, Boeing made a significant investment in Aerion and was brought on as OEM partner for the project.
The investment was made through Boeing’s NeXt programme — a research, development and investment subsidiary. The amount invested and terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Lockheed Martin previously partnered with Aerion to develop its AS2 supersonic business jet in 2017 but is no longer involved in the project.
Boeing’s role in the project will be to bring the aircraft to market and to provide engineering, manufacturing and flight-test resources.
