SAN FRANCISCO – February 8, 2024 – Aviation Personnel International, the longest-running business aviation recruiting firm, today announced that its Vice President, Jennifer Pickerel, has been appointed to the Bombardier Safety Standdown Advisory Council. Her appointment brings Ms. Pickerel’s many years of aviation recruitment experience to help shape Safety Standdown programs. The annual safety seminar, hosted by Bombardier, is open to all safety practitioners, regardless of the aircraft type they fly, to help promote knowledge-based pilot safety training and advance aviation safety and professionalism.
The charter of the Safety Standdown’s Advisory Council is to provide advice, recommendations and suggestions for the content and direction of the Safety Standdown programs. It does so by evaluating past activities, assisting in development of current projects and creating and supporting the future goals of Safety Standdown. The Council’s duties include selecting the annual Safety Standdown Award winner, promoting the conference year-round and building the curriculum for the event. The 2024 Bombardier Safety Standdown will be held this fall in Wichita, Kansas.
“Jennifer is a respected business aviation leader with a profound understanding of HR and workforce challenges, particularly in recruiting and retaining top aviation talent and fostering safer work cultures. She has the pulse of industry issues due to her prolific work in the industry as a committee member and is an engaging communicator and speaker.”
Advisory Council Chairman Marty Grier, CAM, PMP
The Advisory Council’s Chairman, Marty Grier, CAM, PMP, is delighted with Pickerel’s appointment. “Jennifer is a respected business aviation leader with a profound understanding of HR and workforce challenges, particularly in recruiting and retaining top aviation talent and fostering safer work cultures,” Grier said. “She has the pulse of industry issues due to her prolific work in the industry as a committee member and is an engaging communicator and speaker.”
Passionate about equitable representation and inclusion in the aviation industry, Pickerel, in addition to her professional duties, serves as the Chair of the NBAA’s DE&I Working Group, “Endeavor,” and actively participates in industry leadership and advisory groups, including the NBAA’s Maintenance and Business Aviation Management committees. She also is a member of the International Aviation Women’s Association, the Minnesota Business Aviation Association and Women in Corporate Aviation.
“Jennifer’s commitment to safety, hard work, collaboration and continuous learning is evident in her contributions to API and the bizav industry as a speaker, writer and thought leader,” said Sheryl A. Barden, President and CEO, Aviation Personnel International. “She is the consummate business aviation professional,” she said.
In her role as API’s Vice President, she engages with the firm’s clients—primarily aviation directors, reporting executives and corporate HR partners. Serving as API’s “chief of staff,” she plays a pivotal role in the firm’s recruitment efforts, as well as in its strategic planning and special projects. With nearly 20 years of industry experience, Pickerel has a deep understanding of the workforce challenges facing aviation professionals today. She draws on her subject matter knowledge and expertise to speak at an array of industry events, as well as to author industry media articles on workplace culture, employee attraction, retention and DE&I topics.
Prior to API, Pickerel served in many key roles at MedAire, an International SOS company, including Client Services Manager and Senior Account Manager. During her 10-year tenure there, she gained significant leadership experience, developed key aviation industry relationships and honed her communication skills.
Pickerel is a distinguished graduate of the IWF Leadership Fellows Program and Northwestern University-Kellogg School of Management’s DEI-focused executive education program. Her holistic approach to leadership reflects a commitment to excellence and innovation in the aviation personnel landscape. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Nebraska, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
View all Advisory Council members at safetystanddown.com.
About API
Founded in 1971, Aviation Personnel International (apiaviation.com) is the longest-running business aviation recruiting firm serving the hiring needs of business aviation and private aviation. A certified Women-Owned Small Business and Women’s Business Enterprise, API offers its clients the broadest portfolio of fully vetted candidates, including senior aviation leaders, pilots, maintenance, cabin safety crew, schedulers and dispatchers. Headquartered in San Francisco with remote offices nationwide, API’s team members combine their extensive aviation knowledge with their expertise in human resources to provide retained recruitment, compensation consulting and outplacement services.