HEICO's Flight Support Group Appoints Alex de Gunten as Business Development Officer

HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Sept. 18, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI.A) (NYSE:HEI) announced today the appointment of Alexandre (Alex) de Gunten to the new position of Business Development Officer (BDO) of its Flight Support Group (FSG) to further strengthen HEICO’s relationships with the leading global airlines.

De Gunten is a seasoned aviation industry executive, who brings a wealth of experience with senior aviation executives over a long and successful career. De Gunten, together with the rest of the HEICO team, will play a critical role in the organization’s success by expanding product offerings, solutions, and services to the airline industry and will be a valuable resource as HEICO continues to pursue acquisitions for FSG. De Gunten will work with 155 sales professionals in five separate sales teams to ensure the distinct focus required to sell Flight Support Group’s PMA, OEM and DER Repair, Defense, and Distribution products and services. Eric Mendelson, Co-President of HEICO commented, “Alex is an accomplished, highly respected industry executive with the breadth and depth of experience we need to help lead our business. We are proud to welcome Alex to the HEICO family. His reputation as a hands-on, energetic leader and team player makes him a perfect fit for HEICO.”

Remarking on its latest leadership addition, HEICO’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Laurans A. Mendelson, added, “We are building the best organization possible to ensure we not only meet, but surpass the needs and expectations of our customers and shareholders. We are very pleased and proud to continue to attract and retain the highest level of executives to achieve this goal. Since 1990, HEICO, through its leadership team, over 3,400 dedicated Team Members, and supported by an outstanding Board of Directors, has achieved a compounded annual growth rate of sales, earnings and stock price of approximately 20%. We welcome Alex to this great team as we continue to pursue and achieve our strategic growth objectives in the future.”

De Gunten joins HEICO from ALTA, the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association, where he was Executive Director since 2003. His prior responsibilities included Managing Director International of Orbitz, CEO of RepWorld Holdings, Vice President International LanChile Airlines (today known as LAN), and Director General for Latin America for Canadian Airlines International (now part of Air Canada). He has been an active leader in local and international communities, frequently speaking at international organizations and conferences, such as ICAO, CNN, Routes, Airline Business, IATA and ACI among others. De Gunten is the 2012 recipient of the Greater Miami Aviation Association’s Juan Trippe Award, and co-recipient of the Flight Safety Foundation-Boeing’s 2012 Aviation Safety Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fluent in English, Spanish and French, de Gunten has a Master’s in Business Administration with a major in International Business from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from McGill University in Quebec, Canada. He will assume his new role at HEICO effective September 20, 2013 and will be based out of the company´s headquarters in Hollywood, Florida.