Engineering News and Mining Weekly
Flying High
South African woman to head Brussels aircraft maintenance facility
Aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company ExecuJet MRO Services Europe has appointed South African Nadia Coetzee as GM of its facility at Brussels International Airport.
She was previously supervisor of the technical services department at ExecuJet’s global head office at Lanseria, north-west of Johannesburg, in South Africa.
“Nadia’s appointment is a testament to our commitment to promoting female talent from within ExecuJet and from within the aviation industry, including to senior leadership roles,” highlighted Execujet MRO Services regional VP: Europe Christophe De Coppel. About 33% of the workforce of ExecuJet MRO Services Europe’s workforce are women. This is significantly above the average for the MRO industry.
In Brussels, Coetzee will focus on increasing support to customers and particularly on growing the company’s ‘Aircraft On Ground’ (AOG) support business. AOG is industry jargon for an aircraft that has a maintenance problem severe enough to prevent it from flying.
“Putting AOG aircraft quickly back into service is highly valued by customers and is a business we know well,” she highlighted. “It helps build loyalty and leads to repeat inspection and service business. We’re qualified and certified to respond to AOGs anywhere in the world, depending on the aircraft type and registration.”
The company’s Brussels MRO facility has, in fact, responded to AOG situations across both Europe and Africa. The ExecuJet MRO Services group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dassault Aviation and has MRO facilities in Asia, Australasia and the Middle East, as well as in Africa and Europe. It provides MRO services for airframes, avionics and engines for a wide range of aircraft types and manufacturers.
Coetzee holds a degree in business and financial management from Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.