Katie Holmes brings 15 years of private aviation industry experience to Chapman Freeborn, most recently as a Director of Key Accounts focused on building revenues for a provider of on-demand charter.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – Chapman Freeborn, the global air charter specialist and part of Avia Solutions Group, has appointed Katie Holmes as Senior Vice President, Business Aviation. Drawing on her deep knowledge of the domestic market and experience in private aviation, Holmes’ role sees her focused on growing the market share of Chapman Freeborn’s business aviation unit in the Americas., including leading a team of business development veterans to cement fruitful relationships with high net worth individuals who prefer the convenience and personalization of private aviation over commercial flight. She reports to David McCown, President of the Americas for Chapman Freeborn.
Holmes brings 15 years of private aviation industry experience to Chapman Freeborn, most recently as a Director of Key Accounts focused on building revenues for a provider of on-demand charter. She has excelled at team building and development throughout her career, which has seen her rise from sales support to principal sales force leader. She got her start in the industry “by accident” in 2008 at the recommendation of a friend. She knew nothing about aviation at the time, she remembers but kept learning and moving up.
“At the end of the day, aviation is a service industry, and that has always appealed to me,” says Holmes. “Providing great service and building strong relationships is personally satisfying, but it is also what creating a successful aviation organization is all about. I’m excited about telling Chapman Freeborn’s story as we grow our business aviation here in the Americas.”
Born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, Holmes earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with Honors from Saint Thomas Aquinas College in Orangeburg, New York. She also spent a year studying law at New York Law School in Tribeca but wasn’t enamored, and so took her friend’s advice to jump to aviation. She currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, who works on the cargo side of the industry, their three children, and their beloved Labradoodle (Bear) and Aussiedoodle (Rocky).
