putting me on,” Marolt said with a laugh. “Not that anyone would play a practical joke like that on me, but let’s just say I had to make a few calls to verify what I was listening to! My next thought was, ‘Who on my team would have put me up for something like this?’ Later, when I got to read what was submitted with the nomination form, all I could say is, ‘Wow!’ I was quite flattered. I’ll accept it on behalf of all of the many mentors in my life, because I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of great people pull me into their ring and lead me down the right paths in this industry, and without them I wouldn’t be getting anything like this.” Marolt got his first job in aviation at Parr Airport in Zanesville, Ohio in 1993, and has since worked just about every aviation job imaginable. “When I say, ‘I started from the ground up,’ I mean I started from the ground up, washing airplanes,” Marolt said. “I’ve been a fueler, a mechanic, and an engine builder. I’ve done airplane restoration, and I’ve even been a ban- ner tow pilot. I was first hired at Flight Options in 2000 as a Quality Control Inspector, then went to work as a technician on the floor for a few months before moving up to Lead Technician. Over the years, I’ve worked in the Quality Control and Quality Assurance Departments, Engine Management, the Service Department, a little bit of everything. It all went by in the blink of an eye!” More recently, he’s added yet another role to the resume, as a as a Senior Crew Chief doing both the job of Maintenance Crew Chief and Cabin Server on an ultra-long range Global Express aircraft for Flexjet. “I don’t imagine there are a lot of people out there who know how to do maintenance work on a Global Express business jet and know the ins-and-outs of serving caviar in the cabin,” Marolt joked. “I think my role is probably pretty unique! When Mr. Kenn Ricci decided he wanted to do international, he bought three Global Express jets and said he wanted crew chiefs on each of them. So I applied, and ended up getting the first airplane off the line. Now I’m about three years into it, and it’s been amazing, but I’d also say it’s the hardest job in aviation. To everyone who has ever worked in the back of an aircraft, I give them all the credit in the world. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done! It really is.” So, what do aircraft maintenance and the choreog- raphy of cabin-serving etiquette have in common? “Either way, it’s about fanatical attention to detail, and it’s all about service,” Marolt explained. “Those are some of our fundamental principles at Flexjet, so, in some ways, it wasn’t as steep of a learning curve as you might imagine. And another one: it’s all about teamwork and coordination. In this industry—no matter what job you’re in—if you work with others, and listen to and learn from them, then it really changes the dynamics of everything. In the end, I think that’s what comes to define you: how much you’re capable of learning from others. Me, I’ve been a sponge in aviation. I’ve been lucky to work with some incredible people and to pick up all kinds of things from every one of them. On the floor, we call it ‘tribal knowledge.’ You soak up everything you can from people who know better than you, until you’re the one passing on that knowledge and your own experi- ence to somebody else. That’s how our industry survives and thrives into the future: you give these young kids a chance, give them some training, then put them with some seasoned professionals, and they’re going to be all right.” Continued on page 32 Aviation Business Journal | 2nd Quarter 2017 31
