Spirit Aeronautics appoints Tony Bailey

Tony Bailey, president and COO of Spirit Aeronautics
Spirit Aeronautics based in Columbus, Ohio has appointed Tony Bailey as the president and chief operating officer.
Rick Ochs, chairman and CEO of Spirit Aeronautics, says: “This change is a direct result of Spirit’s unprecedented growth under Tony’s leadership. In the past year, Spirit has achieved a 124 per cent increase in revenue, 212 per cent growth in backlog and a 280 per cent increase in personnel.”
“Additionally, we added complementary service offerings and accomplished it while maintaining our high standards of excellence. We reorganized the company’s operations to facilitate this tremendous growth and posture the company for larger scale projects and fleet service programs.
“Tony has set the stage for our next expansion which could include acquiring additional businesses and facilities as we continue to grow organically. He is doing what I knew he could and it is truly astounding!” adds Ochs.
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Bailey started with Spirit Aeronautics, formerly Spirit Avionics, in July 2013 as the company president.
He has over 30 years experience holding key positions in companies including King Aerospace Commercial Services where he was the CEO, Comlux Aviation Services where he rose to the position of CEO and Pentastar Aviation where he was the director of Maintenance Operations for the Maintenance Repair Organization (MRO) and FAA Part 119 director of Maintenance for the charter organization. He and his wife of 28 years, Jody, live in Dublin, Ohio with their five children.
CJI: What will you bring to the position of president and COO?
Bailey: Our company is growing fast and we needed to realign our structure to better accommodate that growth. Part of my role is to increase our product service offerings and calibrate our production processes to become more efficient and add value to the customer experience.
CJI: Will you be making changes in the way Spirit works?
Bailey: Yes, but I feel that is a natural part of any executive role in any company. We are constantly revising our processes to determine how we can better serve our customers.
CJI: What advice would you give to someone starting out in aviation?
Bailey: Be patient and learn every position you can. Aviation is a highly technical career and the more you know, the more you can do. It is a great life and a fantastic career.