Russell Ford
Executive Chairman
Russell Ford served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of StandardAero from October 2013 through September 2026, at which point he retired as CEO. Mr. Ford remains Executive Chairman of the Board through December 2026, after which he will transition to be a member of the StandardAero Board of Directors. Including his leadership at StandardAero, Mr. Ford has more than 40 years of experience working in the aerospace industry. He held various executive roles at Precision Castparts Corporation as the President of Carlton Forge Works and Dickson Test Group, ClearEdge Power Inc. as President and Chief Executive Officer, Prestolite Electric Inc. as President and Chief Executive Officer, Holley Performance Products Inc. as Chief Operations Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation as Senior Vice President of Operations, Allied Signal Corporation’s General Manager of the Industrial and Marine Engine Division, and Bell Helicopter and AT&T in various engineering and management positions. Mr. Ford holds an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Douglas V. Brandely
Director
Douglas V. Brandely is a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, where he focuses on investments in the aerospace, defense, and government sectors. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Forgital Group and has previously served as a member of the board of directors for Sequa Corporation, Novetta Solutions and PrimeFlight Aviation Services. Prior to joining Carlyle in 2005, Mr. Brandely was an investment banking analyst at Greenhill & Co. He holds a M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in commerce from the University of Virginia.
Peter J. Clare
Director
Peter J. Clare served as Chief Investment Officer of Corporate Private Equity, Chairman of the Americas and Chair of the U.S. Buyout and Growth Investment committees of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, until his retirement in 2023. He previously served in various senior roles at Carlyle, including as the Co-Head of the U.S. Buyout and Growth team, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Carlyle's CPE segment, Global Head of the Aerospace, Defense & Government Services team and as a founding member of the Carlyle Asia team. Prior to joining Carlyle in 1992, Mr. Clare began his career with roles at First City Capital Corporation and the Merchant Banking Group of Prudential-Bache. Mr. Clare has previously served as a member of the board of directors of various companies, including The Carlyle Group, Booz Allen Hamilton (where he also served a member of the Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee), Sedgwick, Nouryon, Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD), Signode Industrial, Wesco Aircraft and Aviall. Mr. Clare holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Georgetown University.
Ian Fujiyama
Director
Ian Fujiyama is a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, as well as head of Carlyle's Global Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services team. Mr. Fujiyama joined Carlyle in 1997, and in 1999 he spent two years in Hong Kong and Seoul working with Carlyle's Asia buyout fund, Carlyle Asia Partners. Mr. Fujiyama previously served as Chairman of Carlyle's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Fujiyama was an associate at Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corp., with a focus on high yield and merchant banking transactions. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of KLDiscovery, Inc., Two Six Technologies, Inc., Man Tech International and Loc Performance. He previously served on the board of directors of ARINC Incorporated, CPI, Dynamic Precision Group, Novetta Solutions LLC and Booz Allen Hamilton. Mr. Fujiyama holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Derek J. Kerr
Director
Derek Kerr served as Vice Chair of American Airlines and President of American Eagle until his retirement in 2023. In addition, he previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of American Airlines. Prior to his roles at American Airlines, Mr. Kerr also served as Executive/Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for U.S. Airways and America West Airlines. He brings nearly four decades of aviation and airline experience and broad financial and operational perspectives to the board of directors. His long and distinguished career and a proven business acumen and customer perspectives will help guide StandardAero’s future. He currently also serves on the board of directors of AECOM and Comerica Bank. Mr. Kerr graduated from the University of Michigan with a Masters of Business Administration degree, as well as a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.
Wendy M. Masiello
Director
Wendy M. Masiello is an independent consultant and President of Wendy Mas Consulting, LLC. She retired from the United States Air Force as a Lieutenant General in 2017 after over three decades of decorated military service. Prior to her retirement from the United States Air Force, Ms. Masiello served as Director of the Defense Contract Management Agency from 2014 to 2017 and Deputy Assistant Secretary (Contracting), Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition from 2011 to 2014. Ms. Masiello serves as a member of the board of directors of KBR, Inc., where she is a member of the Cybersecurity, Compensation, and Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Committees. She also serves as a member of the board of directors for EURPAC Services, Inc., Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corporation, MRI Global and ReBuilding Together and previously served as a member of the board of directors for the National Contract Management Association from 2018 to 2024. Ms. Masiello holds a Master of Science in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a Master of Science in logistics management from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Tech University.
Paul McElhinney
Chief Executive Officer
Paul McElhinney was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2026. Mr. McElhinney has more than 30 years of leadership across the aerospace and industrial industries in executive roles and on various boards, including seven years on the Board of Directors with StandardAero. Most recently, he was a Senior Operating Partner at AE Industrial and served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of AE Industrial portfolio companies AIM MRO, Columbia Helicopters and Moeller Aerospace. He previously served on the Board of Directors of Belcan prior to its sale to Cognizant in 2024, and Kellstrom Aerospace prior to its sale to VSE Corporation in 2024. Before joining AE Industrial in 2018, Mr. McElhinney had a 30-year career with General Electric, where he served as President and CEO of both GE Power Services, a $15 billion power generation aftermarket business, and GE Aviation Services, the global aftermarket division of GE Aviation where he was responsible for more than doubling the backlog of the business to more than $100 billion. He also held General Counsel and Business Development roles at GE Aviation and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). Mr. McElhinney holds an Honors Degree in Law from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
Andrea Fischer Newman
Director
Andrea Fischer Newman served as Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, for Delta Air Lines until her retirement in 2017. Prior to her time at Delta Air Lines, Ms. Newman served in various senior government affairs roles at Northwest Airlines from 1995 until Delta Air Lines' merger with Northwest in 2008. Across her 25 years in the airline industry, Ms. Newman has helped guide the airline industry's public policy engagement, including the terrorist attacks of September 11, the passage of the FAA Modernization Act of 2012, and helped lead the U.S. industry's efforts to level the playing field with foreign airline competitors through enforcement of Open Skies Agreements. She serves as a member of the board of directors of Sequitur Energy Resources and PrimeFlight Aviation Services and previously served as a member of the board of directors for Borden Dairy. In addition, Ms. Newman was elected to three terms as a Regent of the University of Michigan, serving from 1995 to 2019. She holds a Juris Doctor from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Michigan.
Stefan Weingartner
Director
Stefan Weingartner is an Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, where he focuses on the aerospace, defense and government sectors. Prior to joining Carlyle in 2015, Dr. Weingartner was President and Chief Executive Officer of MTU Maintenance and a member of the Executive Board of MTU Aero Engines AG. Prior to that role, Dr. Weingartner held various leadership roles with multiple aerospace companies, including MTU Aero Engines GmbH, EADS Japan Co. Ltd. (now Airbus Group) and Daimler Chrysler Aerospace. He currently serves as a member of the strategic advisory board of Forgital Group and previously served as a member of the board of directors of Sequa Corporation from 2015 to 2022. Dr. Weingartner holds a Ph.D. in engineering from Technical University of Munich, a Master of Science in physics from the Technical University of Munich, an M.B.A. from Edinburgh Business School and a Bachelor of Science in physics from the Technical University of Munich.