DAVID HURLEY

David C. Hurley has over sixty years of aviation experience starting with his first flight in a Stinson Voyager at the age of 14.

In 1970, Hurley joined Cessna Aircraft Company to help launch a new business jet, the Cessna Fanjet 500, later known as the “Cessna Citation.” It was during the start-up years of this program that Hurley experienced the most harrowing moment of his flying career. The Citation 500, serial number 001, experienced a nearly simultaneous flame out of both engines. He landed the aircraft safely in a baseball field outside Horseheads, NY.

In 1976, he went to General Dynamics, Canadair Division, to launch the LearStar 600, later renamed the “Canadair Challenger.” In 1983, Hurley founded Flight Services Group or “FSG”. His entrepreneurial approach led to the successful growth of FSG, creating one of the world’s largest providers of corporate aircraft management and charter. Sixteen years later Hurley sold the company to PrivatAir Group, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and served as its CEO.

In his very active retirement, Hurley serves on the board of Aviation Partners Boeing and is Chairman Emeritus of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Wings Club, Union League Club of NY, and the Conquistadores del Cielo. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his wife, Johanna. They have three children and three grandchildren.