On August 19, Meridian celebrated Victor Seda’s 20-year anniversary with the company. Victor joined Meridian as a Customer Service Representative (CSR) in 1999. In 2008, he was promoted to Customer Service Manager and now supervises a staff of 22 colleagues.
Over the years, Victor has received numerous accolades for his outstanding customer service. He has consistently been ranked in the top of this category by Professional Pilot (ProPilot) Magazine in its annual PRASE Survey. Joining him in this honor is our own Betsy Wines. Together, both of them have been named among the top five CSRs in the country by ProPilot for the last 12 years!
Victor came to Meridian from the restaurant industry. He says he loves aviation and really loves working at Meridian. “Working here is awesome,’ he says. “Everyone is like family and I look forward to coming to work every day.”
Victor says he really enjoys the interaction he has with people in his job. It can be very busy at times, and he says that’s what he really enjoys. “I like being at the front desk and dealing with our customers. There’s always something different going on and I am certainly never bored!”
Meridian is incredibly proud of Victor, and all our dedicated Customer Service staff. We’re so glad for your long tenure here and all of the years you have represented Meridian.
Congratulations Victor!
Tag: 20th Anniversary
On December 21, Meridian celebrated the 20th anniversary of our Line Service Manager, Nehemias Camacho. “Camacho”, as he is commonly called by his colleagues and friends, started his career at Meridian as a Line Service Technician in December of 1998 while also enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He served as Crew Chief for the KC-130, the tanker version of the C-130 Hercules modified for aerial refueling. He was honorably discharged from the military in September of 2003 and was promoted to Line Service Manager in June 2005.
Since then, he has focused heavily on safety and keeping the ever-growing Line Service department adequately trained to operate on the Meridian ramp safely and effectively. This has been a huge task as his department has doubled in size from 30 to 60 since his promotion.
“It’s important for people to see the ‘ties’ on the ramp. It shows everyone that we’ve done this before, and we know it works. It’s always been my philosophy to lead from the front and to show everyone that Management understands what it’s like to work on the ramp. It shows that we’re a team.”
Camacho commented on the Meridian culture and Management by saying, “It’s a rare thing to walk into work, every day for 20 years, and still be working for the same people; to see the same people every day and to interact with the CEO as frequently as I do. It just doesn’t happen anywhere else.”
Camacho, reflecting on his career, cannot wait to see what the future holds and hopes for many more years with Meridian.
Congratulations Camacho for 20 great years with the company!
Heather DeRegis, Flight Operations Manager, celebrated 20 years as a member of the Meridian Air Charter team on April 20. Heather started her career with Meridian in 1998 after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics & Management from Dowling College in Oakdale, NY.
Heather joined Meridian as a member of our Charter Sales team. As corporate aviation at Teterboro Airport intensified over the years, in 2001, she transitioned into Flight Operations as a Coordinator. Now, Heather is our Flight Operations Manager and she continues to come into work every day with a smile and positive attitude.
Heather was extremely grateful to her colleagues for the recognition, and had this to say, “I can’t believe how quickly 20 years have gone by. It seems like yesterday that I started here, and both the airport and the company were very different back then. Now I am looking forward to the next 20 years with Meridian!”
Congratulations Heather for 20 years with Meridian!
Meridian, the award-winning private aviation company based at Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, NJ, recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of Meridian Jet Center, the company’s aircraft maintenance operation. The certificate was originally issued to the repair station on February 21, 1996 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This designation allowed the company to repair and inspect various types of business aircraft. In 1996, the company was known as Million Air Maintenance Teterboro because it was part of the Million Air franchise at that time. In 2006, the company changed its name to Meridian Jet Center after leaving the franchise.
John Langschultz, VP of Meridian Jet Center, was reminiscent about the milestone, “We have certainly come a long way in 20 years. When I first started with the company, we had about three employees and one hangar with only 10,000 sq. ft. of working space. Today we have 21 employees, two hangars with up to 60,000 sq. ft. of space, and a plan to build a larger hangar here soon. Back then, most of our business was generated from our own fleet of aircraft. Today, most of our business comes from transient customers passing through Teterboro and our managed fleet now has a dedicated charter maintenance team. Along with growth also came the ability to provide additional services. For example, we now have a well-stocked parts department and operate a full-time detailing department. In the early days, we had to outsource these offerings.”
When asked about the future, Langschultz had this to say, “In 2016, we will be opening Meridian Hayward at Hayward Executive Airport in Northern California. As we continue to add aircraft to our West Coast fleet, our new FBO and maintenance operation will continue to expand with it. We have seen steady growth over the past 20 years, and now we are looking to continue the trend by serving our customers at our new location in Hayward.”
Meridian Jet Center is an FAA-approved Part 145 certified repair station. It is also certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Honeywell has appointed Meridian an authorized TFE731 and -36 Series APU Service Center. The facility is also a Northeast Honeywell Avionics and Mechanical Parts Depot. Meridian Jet Center technicians are certified to work on Beechjets, Challengers, Citations, Falcons, Gulfstreams, Hawkers and Learjets.
Meridian Jet Center is a member of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) and was awarded the Teterboro PAMA Maintenance Department of the Year in 2012, and Maintenance Facility of the Year in 2013.