People & Culture

Jeff Ross has approximately 25 years of experience in the FBO industry. Over the course of his career, Mr. Ross has acquired, owned and operated 28 FBOs.  Previously, Jeff Ross co-founded Ross Aviation alongside Centre Partners in 2004, which he grew from one location to 20 locations by the time it was sold to Landmark Aviation in 2014.  At the time of sale, Ross Aviation was the fourth largest FBO owner in the US (based on the number of FBOs). Between 1993 and 2003, Mr. Ross operated four FBOs alongside a predecessor investment vehicle of KSLCP including SNA.  Jeff Ross currently serves on the Executive Committee of the world’s largest aviation industry trade group, the National Air Transportation Association (“NATA”), and is scheduled to become the Chairman in the summer of 2017.  Mr. Ross graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.

Brian joined the Ross Aviation family as chief executive officer in the summer of 2019. Brian brings decades of experience from luxury hospitality to aviation. As a founder and chief experience officer of Inspirato, Brian was intimately involved in all aspects of building a successful, multi-national company, including real estate portfolio, team development, business development, and multi-unit, geographically dispersed service operations. He is particularly passionate about customer experience, operations excellence and company growth. Prior to co-founding Inspirato, Brian was head of product development and strategy for Exclusive Resorts and was also an economic consultant in Washington, D.C. Brian serves on a number of non-profit boards focused primarily on education and breaking cycles for underprivileged youth. Brian graduated from Boston University and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Cy Farmer has approximately 44 years of experience in the FBO industry.  Prior to joining Ross Aviation as COO, Mr. Farmer held several senior level, executive roles at the largest FBO companies in the world.  Between 2014 and February 2016, Mr. Farmer was the Vice President of Special Projects and International Operations at Landmark Aviation. Mr. Farmer’s responsibilities at Landmark included overseeing operations of the European FBO platform.  Between 1998 and 2014, John Farmer held several positions at Signature Flight Support including Vice President of Operations for the global network and Vice President of Network Development for the Americas.  Mr. Farmer attended Barry University, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and attended business courses at Ashridge University in the U.K. and the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Lance Allen joined Ross Aviation as their CFO in February 2020. Lance is responsible for the company’s accounting and finance functions, including banking relationships and financial reporting. He also oversees IT and Human Resources. Lance’s professional experience includes senior finance and operations roles with a multi-billion dollar privately held company and several private equity-owned businesses. He has extensive merger and acquisition and systems integration experience. Lance is passionate about building teams that partner with operations to increase value through strategy creation, operational execution and financial management. Lance began his career in public accounting at Deloitte & Touche in their Financial Services Practice in Denver and London, UK. He worked for Leprino Foods for 11 years in finance and eventually had full P&L responsibility for their international business. Lance graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Business Economics. 

Larry Jorash has approximately 33 years of experience in the FBO industry.  Prior to joining Ross Aviation as VP Operations, Integration & Safety, Larry spent 20 years with Signature Flight Support in various roles; most recently as Senior Vice President of Operations over North America, Canada and the Caribbean.  Larry also has an aircraft maintenance background with Signature Flight Support, Smyrna Air Center and Priester Aviation where he held various leadership roles in the engine & airframe maintenance and avionics business. Larry received his Bachelor of Science degree at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1986 and also attended business courses at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, Hensley College in the U.K., Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta and Duke University Executive Education program in North Carolina. Larry is a Commercial Pilot, ASEL & AMEL, a Certified Flight Instructor Instrument and continues to enjoy teaching and flying on a regular basis.  

Kyle Schultz joined Ross Aviation as Vice President of Operations in January 2021 and brings over two decades of extensive operations and integrations management experience to the team. Prior to joining Ross Aviation, Kyle was the President and Chief Executive Officer at MLS Courier, a private equity sponsored spin-off of the national courier division at Network Global Logistics (NGL). Previously, he was NGL’s Division President for courier services. Kyle has served as the Senior Vice President and General Manager at Recondo Technology overseeing the revenue recovery business unit and was the Senior Director of Operations for TransUnion Healthcare, responsible for sales support, implementation, contract management, and client support for the patient estimation business unit. Additionally, Kyle has held leadership positions with DaVita Healthcare Partners, Cigna and Great-West Healthcare. Kyle’s operations experience began in the United States Army where he served as an infantry paratrooper as an enlisted soldier and commissioned officer. Kyle graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Alicia Hornback joined Ross Aviation in September 2020 as Corporate Controller. Prior to coming to Ross Aviation, Alicia started her career working for a full-service accounting firm, providing tax and accounting services for companies in various industries. More recently, she has held several financial reporting and management roles for three different, growing construction businesses. During Alicia’s professional career she has had the opportunity to work on teams that have handled multiple merger and acquisitions processes, system conversions and financial reporting initiatives. Alicia is a licensed CPA in the state of Colorado and holds a B.A. in Accounting from Colorado State University as well as a Masters in Accounting from Texas A&M Commerce.

Eric Newman joined Ross Aviation in September 2019, focusing on data democratization, process improvement, and strategic growth. Prior to Ross Aviation, Eric worked as a strategy and M&A consultant in the federal technology & defense space, where he advised clients on both organic and inorganic growth. Eric’s professional career began as a Structural Engineer focused on designing large transportation infrastructure projects in New York City. He holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from Duke University and a B.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Bucknell University.

Sharyar Aziz joined Ross Aviation in April 2020 and is responsible for advancing acquisition efforts, including the sourcing, negotiating and closing of strategic transactions. He also drives other strategic financial initiatives in conjunction with the CFO. Sharyar brings extensive financial acumen to Ross Aviation, having previously worked at Moelis & Company as an M&A associate. Previously, Sharyar was a research analyst at Edgewood Management, a large-cap public equity investment fund. Sharyar began his career at GE Capital as a member of the Financial Management Program (FMP). He graduated from Yale University and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

As Senior Manager of Acquisitions and Planning, Casey is responsible for many detailed aspects of the acquisition process including strategic planning, seller relationship management and the due diligence process.  Additionally, Casey is responsible for operations support, to include customer experience throughout the Ross Aviation network. Prior to joining Ross Aviation in September 2016, Casey was the Manager of Operations Planning at Signature Fight Support, responsible for many of the detailed aspects of Operations Planning including: Customer experience, divisional reporting support to the President, capital expenditure, labor and expense control as well as analytical work on the various RFP's. Prior to taking Operations Planning responsibilities she was instrumental in the Business Development department within Signature Flight Support when she joined in 2011. Before joining Signature Flight Support, Casey was involved in airport management in the NY area as well as the Private Equity management sector for several years. Casey holds a MBA with a concentration in Aviation Management and is involved in various community and industry associations.

Ruben Nunez joined Ross Aviation at it's inception in 2016 and was responsible for the design and setup of the Ross Aviation IT environment. Ruben has 25+ years of experience in the FBO industry serving in various roles. Previously, Ruben served at IT Director for Ross Aviation I, which sold to Landmark Aviation in 2014 and at the time was the 4th largest FBO chain in the US. From 1996 to 2008, Ruben was IT Director for Miami Executive Aviation based in Opa-Locka Executive Airport. Miami Executive Aviation was acquired by Ross Aviation I in 2008. Ruben attended FIU and hold a B.A. in Finance.