Executive Team
Mr. Binder founded Western Avionics (now under Avmax) in 1976 when he amalgamated three small avionics repair shops in Calgary. Recognizing the need and opportunity to provide support to airlines and corporate operators, Mr. Binder continued the expansion of the avionics business and branched out into all the support lines that Avmax offers today.
In the past few years Mr. Binder was the winner of the 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Prairies Region and the 2010 recipient of the Max Ward Aviation Maintenance Trophy for contributions to the aircraft maintenance industry (presented by the Western Canada Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Association).
Outside of Avmax, Mr. Binder has a partnership in an aircraft leasing company, which deals with other aircraft type (de Havilland Twin Otter, King Air, Beechcraft), and he is currently the President of Airdrie Airpark, a private airport developed outside of Calgary, Alberta (majority-owned by Avmax).
In 2012 he was instrumental in Avmax obtaining an Airline Operating Certificate to operate an airline in Chad, Africa. This continues to be a very successful business for the company.
Mr. Binder has a background in aircraft maintenance and holds a Transport Canada M License with endorsements on several aircraft including the CRJ. Over his 25-year aviation career, he has held positions as Crew Chief, Manager, Planner, Director of Maintenance, PRM, Vice-President, Operations, and holds the current position as Chief Operating Officer of AASI.
Previously, Ms. Obikoya worked closely with Avmax’s senior leadership and held the position of Financial Controller of several companies within the corporate group such as Regional 1 Airlines Ltd, Avmax Chad S.A.R.L and most recently Avmax Aviation Services Inc. Prior to joining Avmax, Ms. Obikoya was a Manager at Deloitte, where she worked with clients in a wide range of industries within the public, private and non-profit sectors, with an emphasis on mid-size private companies. In addition to working with domestic corporations, Ms. Obikoya has worked extensively with multinational corporations with operations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the US and South America.
Ms. Obikoya holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters of Professional Accounting from the University of Saskatchewan. In addition to being a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), she is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Chartered Business Valuator. She has taught undergraduate courses in Accounting and Financial Management. She is active within her community and has served as a committee member for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saskatchewan and several non-profit organizations including the YWCA.
Mr. Young began his management career as Director of Maintenance for a small airline on Canada’s West Coast, where he grew this division from two engineers looking after a handful of aircraft to 20 engineers looking after a large fleet of aircraft including many third-party customers, providing complete structural overhaul, manufacturing and maintenance. In early 2000, Mr. Young came to Avmax in Calgary as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, where he moved through the ranks holding many of the management positions and becoming Vice-President of Operations. In 2006, he explored opportunities in the Alberta oil industry and took a position as Vice-President of Operations with a well service company where he gained further knowledge of corporate structure, finance and leadership. In October 2010, Mr. Young returned to Avmax and is currently the Vice-President of Operations (Canada).
Mr. Meyer has extensive experience in creating and improving business models; he does this through strategic planning and implementation of financial and operational initiatives. Mr. Meyer has strong negotiation and leadership skills, which allow for close relationships with the executive management team and enable him to execute new business goals to ensure the future success for Avmax.
Mr. Meyer started with Avmax in 2010 as the Vice President and General Manager of the Spares Division. During his time at Avmax he implemented a new software platform that streamlined processes in the Spares Division as well as across all other Avmax Divisions. In 2013, Mr. Meyer left to go back to his entrepreneurial roots for a couple years. In 2015, he returned to Avmax as the Vice President of Corporate Development. In this new role Mr. Meyer is managing Information Technology, Business Process Improvement and Marketing; he will also be accountable for analyzing and implementing strategic changes through all divisions of Avmax to ensure they are providing maximum benefit to the company and meeting organizational objectives.
Sam’s relationship with John Binder began approximately 12 years ago. This led to Sam joining the newly formed Spares Division at Avmax in September 2010 as Director of Sales. Sam played a pivotal role in the creation of the Spares Division while developing sales and marketing strategies for commercial and regional customers. Specializing in consignment agreements, initial provisioning contracts and leasing opportunities. As of April 2016 Sam has taken on the role of Vice President of Spares. Sam will be responsible for the Spares operations in Calgary, Jacksonville and Nairobi.
Over her 25-years of aviation experience Mrs. Sardi has dedicated 19 of them to Avmax, working in various roles including; Director of Aircraft Leasing & Contracts, Manager of Sales & Contracts, MRO Sales & Marketing Manager, Stores Manager (Materials), Customer Support Manager, Mobile Repair Team & Contract Crew Management providing Pilots, Flight Attendants and Technicians to start-up airlines, MRO Operations. Her diverse experience with Avmax has proved to be an asset in the development of our leasing division.
Monica’s career in aviation began in 1991 with Field Aviation where she gained experience production and operations. Monica transitioned from Field Aviation to a contract support position with Bombardier in 1996 at a satellite office opened in Calgary for new aircraft completions being coordinated through Field Aviation and Avmax. When the Bombardier satellite office closed in 1997 Monica chose to continue her growth in aviation with Avmax.
Between 1987 and 2006, Mr. Primiani held senior airline positions including Director of Maintenance for Rich International Airways, Miami Line Station Maintenance Manager for US Airways, and Director of Quality Control for Caribbean Sun Airlines. He was instrumental in assisting these airlines with growing their fleet, relocation and supervision of maintenance facilities and managing quality control.
In 2006, Mr. Primiani joined Avmax as Director of Operations for Avmax in Great Falls, Montana. His duties included overseeing the expansion of the Great Falls facilities and inception of the Jacksonville, Florida maintenance facility. In addition to general aircraft maintenance, Mr. Primiani manages the company’s painting facility in Great Falls.
Mr. Maydaniuk founded the in house legal department for Avmax, and draws upon his previous experience as an entrepreneur and private business owner in an increasingly business focused role. Since starting at Avmax, Mr. Maydaniuk has handled all legal affairs for Avmax, which includes negotiating and document purchase and sale of aircraft, leases, parts and maintenance agreements, airline agreements, as well as ensuring regulatory, corporate governance and legal compliance. In addition to directing the workflow within the legal department, Mr. Maydaniuk also directs outside counsel on specific projects.
Recently, he was also promoted to the role of Vice President Business Development, drawing upon his entrepreneurial experience and negotiation skills to unlock new market opportunities and pursue major initiatives for Avmax in support of taking Avmax operations and profits to the next level and continue the impressive growth of the company.
Mr. Benoit leads all aspects of R1 Airlines’ flight operations, maintenance, customer service, security, safety, reliability and efficiency. His highest priority is to help clients grow their business, which means making sure that everyone at R1 Airlines is a walking ambassador for the company’s vision and values related to choice, hassle-free service and convenience. Hi goal is to deliver exceptional airline charter transportation.
Mr. Benoit has worked in various other aviation roles including, Technical Instructor Dash 8 102, 106, Dash 8, 301, 311, 314, 315, 402; Technical Instructor CRJ 100, 200, 705; Simulator Instructor Dash 8, CRJ, CAE, Flight Safety; Transport Canada Check Pilot, Dash 8, CRJ; Line Indoc. Line Check Captain, Dash 8, CRJ; HGS 2100, 4200 Instructor; and TRI, TRE, ACP DH8 (all series), CRJ (all series) Bae146, RJ1H.
His flight experience consists of a total of 15200 flight hours and he has an A377601 licence, multi time: 120000, medical: CAT 1, RJ/CL65: 3000, instrument: Class 1, Dash 8: 8000 and current P.P.C.’s: DH8/CRJ65 all series.
When he’s not running R1 Airlines, Lanny is a father and husband and sits on the board of various athletic associations.