“As a leader of Gulfstream in three major roles—president of Product Support, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing, and, ultimately, president of the company—Larry Flynn brought a new level of success and significance to busi- ness-jet travel. He introduced three new aircraft while president of Gulfstream, the G280, G650, and G650ER and announced the all-new G500 and G600, all of which ushered in new innovations in safety, performance and cabin com- fort that have led to the worldwide recognition of business aviation as a vital business tool. His leadership, professional acumen and devotion to the indus- try made a true impact on Gulfstream, general aviation and me personally.” —Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. just loved airplanes. By the time he was 19, President Roosevelt had started the Civilian Pilot Training Program to train 10,000 people to get their pilot’s license, and that gave my dad the opportunity. He went on to be a pilot captain for TWA, and he passed his pas- sion down to his kids. We all pursued aviation careers.” Upon hearing he’d be presented with the Ong Memorial Award, Flynn also discovered he may have an even more personal connection to the award than he knows. “I’ve done some research and learned that William Ong spent a lot of time in Kansas City, where my dad was raised, and his son Donald was five years younger than my dad and went to the same pilot training school,” Flynn says. ‘I’d be shocked if my dad didn’t know both Bill and Donald Ong. There weren’t that many pilots in Kansas City in the 1940s! So, there are some inter- esting coincidences there that make this recognition even more special, as if it’s all coming full circle.” Flynn has been serving on the advisory boards for Duncan Aviation and Capital Aviation Group since his retirement, but says he has also been delighted to spend time with his grandsons. “There’s no lack of fun stuff to do, so retirement has been nice,” he adds. “I highly recommend it.” As he looks back on his career, particularly his time at Gulfstream, Flynn says the thing he’s most proud of is helping to set the company up for continued success long into the future. “I always took a performance-based approach, in hopes of promoting people to their fullest potential,” he says. “And as a result, I rarely hired from the outside for leadership positions: we were chock full of talent and always promoting people from within. It works, so much so that when I retired I was able to hand the baton off to Mark Burns, who worked with me the whole 20 years I was there. The continuity of leadership at Gulfstream is second to none in the industry. It gave me peace of mind when I left that it was in good hands.” Continued on page 24 Aviation Business Journal | 2nd Quarter 2018 23
