Leadership

John S. Slattery

President & CEO, GE Aviation

John S. Slattery is President and CEO of GE Aviation.

Prior to joining GE, John served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Embraer Commercial Aviation, the largest manufacturer in the world of commercial aircraft up to 150 seats. John joined Embraer Commercial Aviation in 2011 as SVP with responsibility for customer finance, asset and risk management and the following year was appointed Chief Commercial Officer leading the sales, services and marketing organizations. In 2016 John was appointed President and CEO of the business.

Prior to joining Embraer, John spent fifteen years in executive roles at various leading commercial aerospace advisory, leasing, and banking organizations. In 2001, John was a co-founder of RBS Aviation Capital (now SMBC Aviation Capital) and the firm’s Managing Director in New York, responsible for leading the bank’s commercial aircraft leasing and asset-backed lending to airline customers across the Americas.

John is a Fellow at The Royal Aeronautical Society, President Emeritus of The Wings Club Foundation and Director Emeritus of ORBIS International.

An Advanced Management Program (AMP) graduate of Harvard Business School, John was awarded an MBA from the University of Limerick and remains active at UL’s Kemmy Business School as an adjunct professor. John is a published author in the International Journal of Aviation Management with a 2017 paper titled Strategy and Competitive Rivalry in the OEM Single Aisle Market.

Mohamed Ali

Vice President and General Manager, Engineering Division

Mohamed Ali is Vice President and General Manager of Engineering for GE Aviation. In this role he oversees the design, development, certification and field services of GE Aviation’s commercial engines. Additionally, Mohamed is responsible for safely operating, satisfying customer needs, and maintaining more than 30,000 aircraft engines world-wide. 

Mohamed began his GE career in 1997 as a research scientist at the Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. At GRC, he progressed through several roles including master blackbelt leading low emission power generation, and program manager developing innovative magnetic bearings, prior to taking the general manager role for advanced technologies in GE’s Oil and Gas business where he delivered numerous advancements such as subsea compressors.

In 2010, Mohamed joined GE Aviation as the systems leader for Aero Derivatives, followed by roles of increasing responsibility including mechanical systems design section leader, systems leader for CF6 and the general manager for performance and analytics where he pioneered the use of analytics-based maintenance and robotics technology in Services Engineering. After a one-year assignment on the business cost mission-based team leading cost cutting across the business, he was promoted to general manager for Services Engineering in 2018. In 2019, he was named an officer of the General Electric Company.

Mohamed earned his PhD from Cornell University.

Joe Allen

Chief Diversity Officer

Joe is the Chief Diversity Officer for GE Aviation. In this role Joe is responsible for leading the executive team in the creation and implementation of our diversity program and establishing institutional accountability and measuring progress.

Joe joined GE in 1989 and has held progressive financial leadership roles across many GE businesses including Appliances, Capital, Corporate, Energy and Plastics. Joe joined GE through the Financial Management Program and later joined the Corporate Audit Staff. Prior to his role as Chief Diversity Officer, Joe helped pioneer GE’s shared services organization, Global Operations.

Joe’s reputation proceeds him as a leader who cares about our people, our purpose and our communities. He has been active in the Cincinnati community, lending expertise and insights to several non-profit organizations. He serves on the Board of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, chairing the Transportation Committee.

Joe is a graduate of Villanova University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

Betsy Bingham

Vice President Lean Operations

Betsy Bingham is the Lean Operations Leader for GE Aviation. Named to this role in June 2021, she is responsible for leading our Lean transformation, changing the way we do business and incorporating lean into our daily operations.

Prior to joining GE Aviation, Betsy was the Lean & Operations Leader for GE Digital, leading Lean transformation in partnership with the leadership team as well as the operational management system across the company. She joined GE in 2019 bringing strong experience leading complex, multi-site global manufacturing and service operations.

Before joining GE, served as Honeywell’s VP of Integrated Supply Chain and the Honeywell Operating System, with responsibility for supply chain management and leading Lean transformation. Before that, she was SVP of Operations for Royal Philips’ Diagnostics Imaging Business, responsible for operations, quality, lean / continuous improvement, manufacturing engineering and global supply chain.

Betsy served in operations, service and Danaher Business System leadership roles at Tektronix, Inc. and Veeder-Root Co., both Danaher companies. In addition she led a large engine manufacturing operation for General Motors.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University and an MBA from State University of New York at Buffalo.

David Burns

Vice President, Chief Information Officer

David Burns is the Chief Information Officer for GE Aviation. Named to this role in March 2018, he is responsible for leading the Digital Technology function and driving GE Aviation's digital industrial strategy.

He began his career with GE Aviation in 1998 on the Information Management Leadership Program (IMLP) with GE Capital. In his more than 19 years with GE, David has held roles supporting multiple GE businesses, including Aviation, Capital, Corporate, Lighting, Energy, Oil & Gas, and Transportation.

David most recently served as the CIO of Horizontal Products for GE, where he led a team focused on aligning common software solutions to enable productivity, optimize inventory, and improve customer outcomes. Prior to this role, David served as the CIO of Manufacturing for GE, where he was responsible for the digital strategy of GE’s Supply Chain.

David holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technologies from Boston College.

David A. Farkas

General Manager, Business Development M&A

David Farkas is the general manager for Business Development and M&A. In this role he is responsible for delivering all aspects of business development and M&A efforts for GE Aviation.

Prior to joining GE, David spent most of this career with Honeywell International where he held various corporate development and M&A leadership positions over twelve years, including eight years as vice president of Business Development and M&A for Honeywell Aerospace. He also served as vice president of Business Development and M&A for the Performance Materials and Technologies (“PMT”) division and led other major corporate development transactions. Most recently, David was with Hexcel Corporation leading Business Development and M&A.

Earlier in his career, David also worked in various M&A related positions of increasing responsibility for Sirva, Inc and in the Transaction Advisory group at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Chicago. David started his career as a CPA and auditor at Plante Moran.

David is a graduate of Michigan State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting. He also is a graduate of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia with a Master's in Business Administration.

Kathy MacKenzie

President and CEO, Commercial Engine Operations

Kathy MacKenzie was appointed President and CEO, Commercial Engine Operations in February 2021.

Kathy began her GE Aviation career on the Edison Engineering Program and in early career worked as a rotating parts design and life analysis engineer on the T700, CT7 and CF34 programs. As an engineer, Kathy obtained her Black Belt certification on the GE’s Six Sigma program. Kathy progressed her career through a variety of roles in product management, commercial sales and services and customer support. In previous roles she has been the account manager for one of CFM’s largest US based airline; the regional General Manager Commercial Sales Operations supporting Asia and China; the CF6 Customer Services Leader managing a $1B services portfolio. Kathy also led Mature Fleet Programs for the Services business, which focused on creating new strategies, products and solutions for customers with aging fleets. Kathy was then promoted to the General Manager of Regional Engines and Services where she led the P&L and product strategy for commercial engines under the 20,000 lbf thrust class, which include the CF34 family of engines, the Passport 20 developed for the Bombardier Global 7000/8000 and commercial Turboprops. Kathy has also been the General Manager for the GEnx Product Line, where she led the P&L and product strategy for the GEnx family of engines. Under her leadership, the GEnx product continued its unprecedented market growth for widebody jet engines, growing the new equipment backlog to an excess of $4B, maintaining a 15% aircraft utilization advantage against the competition and improving overall fleet reliability by 4%. Most recently, Kathy was the Vice President Asia Pacific Sales where she led overall customer relationships and deal strategies for the Asia Pacific region.

Kathy has Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University and MIT, respectively. Outside of work, Kathy is an avid Crossfit athlete and enjoys time with her husband and three sons skiing, hiking and mountain biking; in the downtime enjoys reading non-fiction and some light cooking.

John T. Martinez

Vice President & General Counsel

John Martinez is Vice President and General Counsel of GE Aviation. In this role, John is responsible for developing and executing GE Aviation’s business and legal strategy across the commercial aviation and defense sectors and leads GE Aviation's global legal, contracts and compliance organizations. He brings seasoned leadership in the defense industry to build on our reputation as a proud partner to global military fleets.

John joined GE Aviation in August 2021 from Raytheon Intelligence & Space, where he served as Vice President and General Counsel, leading critical matters relating to government and commercial corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, litigation, labor and employment, intellectual property and international business compliance.

Prior to his position at Raytheon, he served as Deputy General Counsel for the Director of National Intelligence and as a Senior Associate General Counsel at the Central Intelligence Agency. He previously worked as a Litigation Associate at Greenberg Traurig and began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

John earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the Pennsylvania State University and his law degree from St John’s University School of Law.

Kathleen T. McCarthy

Chief Human Resources Officer, GE Aviation

Kathleen McCarthy is Chief Human Resources Officer for GE Aviation.

Kathleen joined GE Aviation in January 2021 from GE Digital where she served as Chief Human Resources Officer for two years, since 2019. Kathleen joined GE in 2017 as Organizational & Talent Development Leader for GE Digital. She is known for driving value through innovative people strategies and initiatives and leading large-scale global business transformation – including at GE Digital.

Prior to GE, Kathleen was Chief Talent Officer with American Express. Over eight years at American Express, Kathleen led talent development, talent acquisition, workforce planning and HR operations & analytics. Kathleen brings many years of experience in a variety of industries and HR disciplines, including work in consulting and with a start-up.

Kathleen received a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Massachusetts.

Gary D. Mercer

Vice President and Strategic Advisor

Gary Mercer was named to his current position as Vice President and General Manager of Engineering at GE Aviation in 2016. In this role, he oversees the design, development, certification and field services of GE Aviation’s Commercial & Military engines.

Most recently, Gary served as Vice President of Services Engineering and Chief Engineer for GE Aviation, and was responsible for developing the strategy, process, and tools to drive operational excellence for a global engineering team and supporting services agreements for GE Aviation’s customers.

Gary began his career at GE as a design engineer at Aircraft Engines in 1985. He held several engineering positions before joining GE Energy in 1993; he became general manager of a steam cooled gas turbine initiative.

In 1999, Gary relocated to Greenville, SC and became the Power Generation Programs Manager. He was appointed to Senior General Manager of Engineering for GE Oil & Gas in Florence, Italy in 2002.

After four years in this role, Gary returned to GE Energy in Greenville, SC to lead the component design teams for Gas and Wind Turbine products. Gary also led the global engineering team for GE’s Renewables Energy business, where he continued his passion for engineering excellence, innovating processes and products to make GE the preferred supplier to our customers.

In 2011, Gary rejoined GE Aviation in Evendale, OH as the Vice President and Chief Engineer of the Engineering division. Gary’s responsibilities grew to include the Technology and Sciences departments in 2012. In 2014, Gary became Vice President of Services Engineering in addition to his role as Chief Engineer, which includes leading the Chief Engineer’s Office.

Gary has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the State University of New York.

Brad D. Mottier

President and CEO, Aviation Systems 

Brad D. Mottier is President and CEO of Aviation Systems for GE Aviation.

Prior to this appointment, Brad served as vice president and general manager of GE Aviation's Services operation and was named a company officer of General Electric Company in 2005.

Brad was president and chief executive officer of Unison Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviation's Services operation, which was acquired in 2002. Prior to the acquisition, he worked for more than 20 years at Unison, holding various roles of increasing responsibility. These roles included senior development engineer, engineering manager, materials manager, quality control manager, product line manager, sales and marketing manager, operations manager, vice president of marketing, senior vice president and executive vice president. Brad also holds several patents in ignition technologies.

He is a 1979 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana, where he earned a bachelor's degree in general engineering. He also has earned a Master's degree in engineering degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Brad is vice president of the Sontag Foundation; former chairman of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA); member of the President's Council for the University of Illinois, and a distinguished alumni of the Department of General Engineering and the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. In May 2014, Brad was honored with the Business Aviation Laureate Award by Aviation Week.

Riccardo Procacci

CEO, Avio Aero
CEO, GE Additive

Riccardo joined GE in 1996 covering different technical and commercial roles before being assigned to Asia in 2000 as GE Oil & Gas region sales manager based in Kuala Lumpur. During his tenure, landmark projects were secured in the region in strategic segments like LNG and Pipeline. At the end of 2003, he moved back to the GE Oil & Gas headquarters in Florence, Italy, leading the Contractual Service Agreements business unit, part of the business' Global Services division.

In 2006, he relocated with his family to New Delhi, India, in the role of GE Country Leader, with the mandate to establish the Company's operations in India, while identifying and launching key localization initiatives and partnerships. In 2009, he was nominated to the role of Turbomachinery Applied Technology leader based in Florence, Italy, where he was responsible for the product leadership of the entire Turbomachinery portfolio, which spans from compressors to gas and steam turbines, turboexpanders, pumps, valves and control systems. In this capacity, Riccardo has spearheaded the development, testing and feasibility of new technologies such as the LM6000 for mechanical drive, the first floating LNG applications, and increasing the competitiveness of GE's steam turbines through the development of new high speed/high efficiency blades.

In 2013, Riccardo joined GE Aviation Systems as AVIO integration leader, based in Turin, Italy. In this role, Riccardo led the team that planned the smooth transition of AVIO into GE. He was promoted to CEO of Avio Aero in mid-2013. In May 2020, he assumed additional responsibilities as CEO of GE Additive.

Riccardo holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in turbomachinery from the University of Rome "La Sapienza".

Russell Stokes

President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GE Aviation Services
Chairman of GE Power Portfolio

Russell Stokes is the President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GE Aviation Services and Chairman of GE Power Portfolio. In this role, he will lead the Services operation and be responsible for the global Overhaul and Repair facilities. Russell has more than 23 years of GE experience, including seven years at GE Aviation where he served as the Sourcing General Manager as well as Services Chief Risk Officer and Customized Service Agreements Finance Leader.

Most recently, he was President and CEO of GE Power Portfolio, and he will remain Chairman of GE Power Portfolio, reporting to GE President and CEO Larry Culp, and advise the Power Portfolio business leadership teams.

Power Portfolio was created, as part of an effort led by Russell while he was CEO of GE Power, to restructure the business into two customer and market-aligned entities. Before leading GE Power, Russell was the President & CEO of GE Energy Connections, the electrification, grid and controls business of GE. Back in 2013, he also served as the President & CEO of GE Transportation, a global leader in rail, mining and marine industries. Russell has also held numerous leadership positions in finance, operations and services within GE Transportation, GE Aviation and GE Lighting.

Russell plays an active role in the Atlanta community. He is a member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, the Atlanta Committee for Progress, 3DE by Junior Achievement – an association dedicated to re-engineering high school education – and a Board Trustee of the Morehouse School of Medicine. Russell graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in finance and is a graduate of GE’s Financial Management Program.

Jason Tonich

Vice President and General Manager,
Global Sales & Marketing

Jason Tonich was named to his current position of Vice President and General Manager of Global Sales & Marketing in 2019. In this role, Jason oversees a worldwide team of regional sales and marketing leaders representing the company’s products and services to customers, generating proposals and responding to customer requests, owning the GE Aviation brand, and executing business growth strategies.

Jason joined GE Aviation as a Field Service Engineer in Melbourne, Australia, transitioned to Sales, and has held marketing and sales roles of increasing responsibility, developing GE Aviation’s business in Europe, Asia and the U.S.

Jason started his career in 1993 as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force performing multiple engineering and logistics roles. A graduate of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, he has a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering with honors. He began his GE Aviation career in 1998.

Jason then joined GE Aviation’s sales team in 2000, and held several roles supporting sales activity throughout the Asia-Pacific region, based out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore. He was named Master Black Belt in 2004, leading Six Sigma activities across the Marketing division, based in Cincinnati, U.S. In 2006, he moved back to the Sales team, supporting sales activity in North America.

In 2008, Jason moved to Paris, France, and became General Manager of Sales for Western Europe, leading commercial product and services sales across that region. In 2010, he became General Manager of Asia Commercial Operations based in Singapore, where he established GE Aviation’s first regional deal factory to support Asia region sales activities. In 2013, he was named General Manager of Commercial Operations for the Sales & Marketing team, based in Cincinnati, where he was responsible for all global deal activity in support of commercial products and services sales.

In 2017, immediately prior to his current role, Jason became Vice President in charge of Asia-Pacific sales for GE Aviation, responsible for leading the Asia-Pacific commercial team.

Shane M. Wright

Senior Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
GE Aviation

Shane Wright is the Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for GE Aviation. In this role, Shane oversees all aspects of financial strategy for GE Aviation's $30 billion aerospace business with more than 80 facilities in 21 countries around the globe. In addition, he manages GE Aviation's operating rhythms and performance, while continuing to partner with the leadership team to set and execute the business strategy.

Shane joined GE in 1988 on the Financial Management Program. He then spent six years with the Corporate Audit Staff and held global finance leadership roles of increasing responsibility for several GE businesses, including Finance Manager, Asia Pacific for Transportation; Finance Manager, Asia, Europe and Africa for Energy; Financial Planning and Analysis Manager for Oil & Gas; Chief Financial Officer, Property & Casualty for Insurance Solutions and Chief Financial Officer for GE Transportation.

Shane also has experience in mergers and acquisition, serving as the Corporate Staff Executive for M&A in Hong Kong in 1998, and in risk management, serving as the Global Risk & Underwriting Manager for GE Insurance Solutions in 2002.

Prior to joining GE Aviation, Shane served as Chief Financial Officer for GE Healthcare International, where he was responsible for the Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Greater Asia regions for GE's Healthcare business.

Shane is the Staff Sponsor for GE Aviation's Veteran's Network, leading efforts to recruit, retain and promote high quality military veteran employees to the business. He is also the Executive Champion for the Company's Financial Management Program (FMP), overseeing the training and development of GE's future financial leaders.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington in 1986. In the community, Shane serves on the Board of Directors for the Cincinnati Port Authority, and on the Board of Directors for 3CDC, Cincinnati's Development Corporation.

Weiming Xiang

President, GE Aviation Greater China

Weiming Xiang is President of GE Aviation Greater China Region and was appointed a GE Company Officer in November 2014. In this role, he leads Aviation's Greater China operations, including Commercial Engines and Services as well as growth programs, such as Business & General Aviation, Marine, Industrial Internet, and oversees China's Engineering and Supply Chain's activities. Weiming champions the China Leadership Council to drive the business' growth strategies, build the local capabilities and engage with customers, partners and employees.

Weiming joined GE in 1992 and has held various commercial leadership roles in Marketing & Sales, Product Lines, Services, Customer & Product Support, Six Sigma Black Belt and Business Development for the Aviation and Transportation businesses in China and the United States. In his recent positions as the General Manager of GE Aviation Greater China Region and the General Manager of GE Transportation China, he led the commercial engine teams from both businesses to win numerous deals and sales contracts.

Prior to GE, Weiming worked at AVIC for seven years.

Weiming is a graduate of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, China, where he received a bachelor's degree in aero-engine design. He was the first graduate of the Technical Leadership Program (TLP) of GE China and a graduate of the Global Marketing and Sales (GMS) Program at GE Aviation. Weiming is also a certified Black Belt.