Management Team

Captain George H Snyder

Captain Snyder enthusiastically began his aviation career in 1969 by obtaining his FAA Student Pilot license on the occasion of his sixteenth birthday, the earliest opportunity to do so under the US FAA Federal Aviation Regulations. During his subsequent forty years in the airline industry, Captain Snyder earned an FAA Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) with Type Ratings on the BAC 1-11, DC-9, MD-80, B-757, and B-767 aircraft, held positions as Type Rated Instructor (TRI) and Type Rated Examiner (TRE), and accumulated over 12,000 hours of incident, accident, and violation free flight time.

Captain Snyder graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in June 1975 prior to beginning his professional airline career barely four days later. Subsequent education included an MBA from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, as well as a Transportation Safety Management Certificate from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles.

Always wishing to “give back” to professional colleagues as well as the airline industry at large, Captain Snyder welcomed the opportunity to serve US Airways from 1994 to 1997 as Director of Flight Safety and Quality Assurance before being promoted to the position of Vice President Corporate Safety and Regulatory Compliance in 1997.

During this time, successful efforts were undertaken to create an autonomous safety oversight function staffed with specially trained operational and technical personnel, enhance the value of the airline’s flight data analysis system in identifying adverse operational trends, establish a non-punitive safety hazard and incident reporting system, and formalize a “safety partnership program” between the airline, regulator, and the pilot trade association. These efforts served to re-establish the airline’s brand value and enhance its overall reputation as an industry leader in operational safety.

Following from these successes, Captain Snyder was recruited by Korean Air in January 2000 to head its Corporate Safety, Aviation Security, and Regulatory Compliance Department in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Moving his family from the northeastern United States to Korea, Captain Snyder spent the next seven years living and working in Korea in order to fully understand its rich culture and long standing Asian traditions.

Captain Snyder’s interest in and respect for Korean culture allowed him to play a key leadership role in assisting Korean Air to recover from a series of tragic accidents, improve its overall risk profile with the global insurance market, regain approval certification from the US Department of Defense in order to transport US military and government personnel, navigate through the tragic events and consequences of September 11, become a founding member of the SkyTeam Alliance, and successfully obtain initial IOSA registration as the first air carrier in the Republic of Korea as well within the SkyTeam Alliance to be so recognized.

Wishing to leverage past industry successes across a wider global client base, Captain Snyder was recruited in June 2006 by London based Marsh Ltd Aviation and Aerospace Practice to head a newly created global airline safety, security, and quality consulting practice. During this time, Captain Snyder provided consulting, auditing, and training services to operators, civil aviation authorities, ground service providers, and other industry stakeholders in diverse locations such as Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Sao Tome, Principe, Columbia, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Turkey.

In addition to his current position as Chairman of Summit Elite Group, and President and CEO of wholly owned GHS Aviation Group and GHS Aviation Auditing, Captain Snyder holds consulting roles at the Chairman and President/CEO level for several major international Flag Carriers, as well as sitting on Board level Aviation Safety and Security sub-Committees.

He has been recognized for his contributions to global aviation safety by the Associate Administer of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as the Minister of Construction and Transportation (KMOCT) for the Republic of Korea.
 

Jackie S. Barnes

With a Business degree from Victoria University Jackie Barnes has successfully held numerous leadership positions in the airline and aviation industries. Spending a number of years as Manager of Quality Assurance for a major Australian Air Carrier she effectively maneuvered her team towards the successful introduction of a Quality Management System which resulted in the upgrade of their quality system certification to ISO9001:2000. She was responsible for a number of corporate initiatives including the development, integration and harmonization of departmental policies and procedures, furthering her successes she was able to incorporate various process improvements that delivered direct and quantifiable results to the airline’s profitability, including the delivery of a Six Sigma improvement project that targeted a $10 million per annum savings. Her departure from direct airline employment capitalized on her management and auditing abilities as she became Managing Director of the most successful IATA accredited Auditing Organizations in the ASPAC region. Her attention then focused on building a strong and profitable business with specific focus on the IOSA audit process. Aside from her skills as a business partner she assisted over 50 airline clients with their IOSA registration process and skillfully managed audit teams all over the world. Her certification as a qualified and current IOSA evaluator and lead auditor provides a level of expertise which contributes to the success of IOSA preparation projects.

Professionally Jackie has earned a number of licenses, certifications and industry endorsements. Currently she is a Certified Aviation Incident Investigator an IOSA Auditor and Lead Auditor, as well as a licensed presenter of Total Quality Management Programs. Her dedication to constant improvement is further evidenced by her obtaining a Green Belt certification in the Six Sigma methodologies. This high quality background of experience provides the foundation from which Ms. Barnes continues to provide her clients with leading-edge project direction whether serving as Managing Director, Lead Auditor, Quality Assurance Manager or Consultant. Her areas of expertise allow her to provide high quality consulting services in the areas of Aviation Safety and Security, QMS, IOSA, Cabin Safety, Operations Control and Flight Dispatch, Ground Operations, Cargo and Dangerous Goods.
 

Captain Paris Michaels

Captain Michaels acquired flight experience as a Flight Instructor in single and multi-engine general aviation aircraft while enrolled in college during the 1970’s. He was able to apply his newfound managerial and academic talents upon successful completion of his Baccalaureate studies when he was offered the position of Assistant Chief Flight Instructor and Adjunct Faculty at Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida, in the United States. It was during this phase of his career that he began studies to satisfy course requirements of the Master in Business Administration, which he completed in 1983.

As the United States airline industry reconfigured during the early period of deregulation in the late 1970’s, Captain Michaels sought ways to gain international jet experience abroad. He accomplished this by assuming a DC-8-21 First Officer position with NOTOMBI Airlines Ltd., based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The opportunity provided him international financial and managerial experience in the dual role of First Officer and Flight Operations Manager supervising seventy-four pilots and four DC-8 aircraft operating throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Captain Michaels returned to the United States after eighteen months and secured a position with Western Airlines in 1978. He experienced three furloughs over the next eighteen months during an era of extreme tumultuous economic strain within the industry and ultimately accepted a position with another major international scheduled passenger carrier where he has been employed since October 1980.

At the airline, Captain Michaels served as a Check Pilot, Simulator Instructor, and Base Manager of its Washington DC domicile. Concurrently, he aggressively sought additional academic credentials including a Master of Science in Systems Management (FIT, 1986) and a Master of National Security Degree (Institute of World Politics, Washington DC, 2006). Captain Michael’s involvement in the investigation of several major air carrier accidents led to opportunities within the United States Department of Justice as well as the private sector in the realm of Expert Witness and accident investigation.

The pre/post 9/11 aviation security climate induced Captain Michaels to hone his communication skills to hopefully affect much needed change in the airline sector. To help achieve his goal, he recently returned to The Institute of World Politics where he is now enrolled in the Master of Strategic Intelligence Studies program. He has recently completed his fifth year as an active Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) under the oversight of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Captain Michaels currently holds an Airline Transport Pilot License and Turbojet Flight Engineer Certificate and is type rated on the DC-9, B-737, B-757, B-767 and A-330 aircraft. He has accumulated over 30,000 hours of flight experience, and has continuously maintained an active Gold Seal FAA Certified Flight Instructor Certificate with Single/Multi-Engine rating since 1974.

Justin C Viele

Mr. Justin Viele has the unique distinction of being both GHS Aviation Group’s youngest as well as longest standing member having been employed since the company’s formation in March 2004.

Beginning in a small residential office in Virginia, Justin built the IT infrastructure and administrative processes that have enabled GHS to grow from these humble beginnings into the global air transportation consulting, auditing, and training services provider that it is today.

Recently promoted to the Director level of management, his current roles and responsibilities include oversight of all GHS contractor administration and human resource requirements, project resource logistics, client invoicing, IT infrastructure, technical support, and facilities. In addition, Justin is involved with the creation and revision of GHS corporate and technical manuals, as well as the timely communication of such changes to its contracted service providers.

He maintains proficiency on the entire suite of Microsoft Office and financial accounting software applications, and provides onsite and web-based training to his professional colleagues. Known throughout GHS as the “go to guy”, he remains available to support senior management, staff personnel, as well as an extensive global client base on literally a 24/7 basis.