november-december 2021 - 36

David Buritica
2021 has been a good year for David Buritica. The director of
sales and marketing at Sheltair Aviation is not only an Airport
Business 40 Under 40 award winner, he is also a 2021 NBAA
Top 40 Under 40 award recipient. The previous year, Buritica
was promoted to director of sales and marketing, making
him the youngest professional currently at a director level
at Sheltair.
Age: 33
Hometown: Bogota,
Colombia
Alma Mater: Broward
College (aerospace science),
Endeavour Flight Training
Someone I look up to in
the industry: My stepfather,
Luiz Stein, who introduced
me to the world of aviation.
Fun fact about yourself:
I like writing during my
downtime.
Aviation has long been part of Buritica's life. His family runs
a charter and air ambulance operation in Bogota, Colombia,
flying King Airs. " I was very intrigued by airports, pilots, hangars
-, " he said, thinking back to his teenage years.
He initially wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do in aviation
but felt drawn to the industry as a whole. In 2010 he began
selling aircraft parts, marking the beginning of his sales career.
Buritica earned his private pilot license in 2013, and in 2014,
a multi-engine rating.
When he joined Sheltair in 2018, he was the business aviation
sales manager. In that year, he helped the company nurture
relationships in Mexico and Brazil, led the CAA preferred FBO
designation campaign for Sheltair Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood
International Airport (FLL) and restructured the sales process
to create better interdepartmental collaboration and communication.
In 2019, he focused on coaching the sales team and
creating a program to provide sales processes and tools for the
employees. Buritica has also supported the implementation
of significant changes in the company's use of technology by
introducing various flight tracking and sales software resulting
in improved communication and lead targeting. At the start of
the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Buritica was involved with
the company's efforts to create safe environments, maintain
employee and customer morale, support repatriation and
ambulance flights, and monitor the impacts of the pandemic.
Buritica is part of the I Hart Flying Foundation scholarship committee,
a non-profit organization that helps women of all ages
in their pursuit to become pilots in the general and commercial
aviation industry. Along with Andy Castro, Sheltair's director of
special projects, Buritica helped form a partnership between
Sheltair and SUN' n FUN in Lakeland, Florida, supporting the
Aerospace Center for Excellence (ACE), a STEM learning center
designed to provide hands-on activities for future aviators.
www.AviationPros.com/21238981
Rhea A. Hanrahan
Age: 34
Hometown: Red Hook,
New York
Alma Mater: Ithaca College,
Ithaca, NY, Class of 2009
Fun fact about yourself:
Took cooking classes at the
Culinary Institute of America
Someone I look up to in
the industry: Mary Ellen
Eagan, HMMH CEO
My favorite thing about
aviation is: The people!
A physicist by schooling, Rhea Hanrahan is using her expertise
to help clients with noise and environmental consulting.
Working for HMMH for the past 12 years, Hanrahan's physics
background made her a quick study in the field of noise
consulting.
" Having a physics background, airports are really what I
had to learn when I came onto the job. I had the technical
background and ability to take large amounts of data and
parse it out for analysis and written reports. So, it's really
been the learning experience of the aviation industry and
airports as a whole that I got on-the-job training with, which
has been very rewarding and interesting and not something
that I was necessarily looking to do when I was going to school.
I didn't even know the world of noise consulting was a career
possibility, " she said.
During her time with HMMH, Hanrahan has taken on increasingly
challenging roles and now is a principal consultant managing
HMMH's two largest aviation contracts - multi-million-dollar
task order-based contracts, with multiple subcontractors.
A couple of Hanrahan's notable achievements include, with
less than a week's notice, relocating across the country for
a month-long assignment with a key client, and two years
ago, she opened a new office for the firm in NYC, once again
relocating across country. In her role as NYC office manager,
Hanrahan has established relationships with many large clients
and engineering firms doing some of the most exciting
projects in the city.
It's really been the learning
experience of the aviation
industry and airports ... which
has been very rewarding
" I have many different clients across the country and their
needs change with the years. I get to help noise offices
shape the programs that they want. I really like working with
on-call-type contracts because I get to work with my clients
over the contract and be able to help shape, grow, and work
with them and their communities to execute their strategies, "
Hanrahan described.
Hanrahan was 2020 chair of the Airport Consultants Council
(ACC) Young Professional Forum, pivoting to a virtual leadership
role with the COVID-19 pandemic. Hanrahan currently
serves on the board of the ACC Member Foundation. The
foundation' s goal is to offer financial support for educational
and research activities that foster growth of airport development
related services.
www.AviationPros.com/21245439
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november-december 2021

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