While we are still recruiting native Iraqis from around the world, following is the interim team to support the Sky Airlines operation.

Rubar S. Sandi, Chairman/Founder/Government Relations

Mr Sandi has over 20 years of experience in international business and now directs his own corporate and institutional finance concern, which provides financing for large scale international projects. During this time, he has developed numerous friendships and contacts at the highest levels of the international community, both within business and government.

Rubar Sandi was born in Zakho, Iraq in 1953, a son of prominent members of the Sandi clan, who have by tradition and custom provided leadership in his native area for hundreds of years. Business and politics was in his family's tradition and he has followed his family's ancient calling.

His early education, in Zakho, a prosperous town controlling major trade routes since the time of Alexander the Great, was followed by higher education in Baghdad. His education was interrupted in 1974 by the Kurdish-Iraq war. He returned to northern Iraq to defend his town and people from the murderous assaults of Saddam Hussein's forces as they terrorized and murdered Kurds in an attempt to eliminate the indigenous population. In the aftermath of this repressive war by Saddam against his own people, Rubar Sandi fled to Iran in 1975 and was able to make his way to the US in 1977. In 1991, he went back to participate in the Uprising against Saddam's regime and to locate his missing family members. After coming back to the US in 1977, he continued his interrupted education in the US, obtaining his BA in Management Information Systems and Masters in International Business from Hamilton University. Mr. Sandi joined IBM, where for eight years worked on complex systems development and marketing for major clients.

In 1987, relying on his successful IBM experience, his extensive business contacts, as well as his knowledge of various languages, Kurdish, Arabic, English, Farsi, intermediate Turkish as well as Mandarin Chinese, Rubar Sandi began his independent career in business. From a Washington, DC base he began various enterprises in technology, real estate, energy, housing and property development for himself and various clients. Mr Sandi provided his management skills to new real estate projects in Iran from 1992-1993, and later moved with his family to Beijing to work on various real estate, energy and manufacturing projects for European and U.S. clients. These assignments led Mr. Sandi to focus on the financial requirements for large international projects and he has made these the focus of his attention since his return to Washington in 1997. The State Department asked Mr. Sandi to join each of the working groups to review plans for Iraq's renaissance--post Saddam. He is the author of Phoenix Plan and many papers for the future of Iraq mainly on the subjects of post-Saddam economic policy, fiscal and monetary policy, banking, private sector initiatives and privatization, to name a few.

Dr. F. Khaleghi Yazdi, President/Co-Chairman/Co-Founder

With 40 years of expertise in all stages of the aviation industry, Yazdi is known worldwide as an international aviation pioneer. Since the closing of his private airline in Belgium, he has only worked on challenging projects or consulted with governments or major airlines on major international issues, such as the English-Chinese dispute on aerospace for Macau, establishment of a new air route (Polar - Siberian air route), Pan Am airways issue, as well as other international issues pertaining to ICAO, IATA, the Geneva Convention, etc.

Yazdi began with a small flying school and air taxi company and grew to major airline and maintenance facilities around the world. In 1959 he created the World Aviation Magazine, which aimed to bring the world aviation industry together by introducing world aviation products and resources to each other. His international courier service was the first world overnight service until mid-1986, after which it was successfully merged with World Postal Systems as EMS (Express Mail Services), with Yazdi as the head of operations of EMS in Brussels, Belgium. He created the Macao airport, which received the highest aviation award in 1990. He then made the Sakhalin International airport and SAT Sakhalin international airline "Sakhalin Aviatrassy". Until 2 years ago, he was the only person in the United States qualified to set up and modify international airways (air routes) to be accepted by ICAO. Yazdi inherited an interest in Kurds through his Kurdish mother and is very excited about the opportunity to create the best airport facilities for Iraq to help the Iraqi people. Yazdi sincerely believes that the airline and airport will contribute to the overall improvement of the economy. Dr. Yazdi is proud to be selected for the reconstruction team for Iraq and hopes soon to do similar reconstruction for Iran.

Please click here for more detailed biographical information on Dr. Yazdi.

Emine E. Cetinkaya, Director

Ms. Cetinkaya is an international executive with comprehensive
experience in international business. Her expertise includes building
corporate value, managing projects, identifying and implementing
strategies to sustain growth for international companies. Ms. Cetinkaya
received her Bachelor's of Science degree in finance and international
business from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She is expecting
to receive her MBA degree in international business from Johns Hopkins
University.

Bayar Saadee, VP Purchasing

Mr. Saadee is a mortgage banker with broad underwriting, operations, quality control, product development and secondary marketing expertise. He is an excellent negotiator with outstanding knowledge of computer and computer systems. Mr. Saadee has extensive experience in implementing and maintaining internal training programs related to credit risk, appraisal, underwriting, assessment and fraud detection. He has excellent skills in real estate financing and analysis. Mr. Saadee holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in economics and statistics from the University of Baghdad.

Frank K. Scott, VP Accounting & Facilities

Mr. Scott oversees our day-to-day operation. His expertise is in reviews of cash flows, expenditures, financial statements, and the creation of an overview on the corporate profile, discovering and mapping the creative process flows throughout the various departments, reducing and/or eliminating inefficiencies. He is engaged in the analysis of human resources and their immediate needs while addressing relevant projections.

Mr. Scott has owned and managed several businesses nationally and internationally, including security and fire systems, a toy invention and manufacturing company, and consulting to Trans World Airlines. He has also worked as a private banker (sharia) for the Royal Families of the Middle East out of New York with liquid assets of over USD 1 billion. Mr. Scott holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration. He is a Certified Public Accountant, writer and speaker.

Charles Lee Griffin, VP Technical Services

Mr. Griffin, with over 35 years of professional aviation experience, oversees and leads the team for development of Sky Airlines' maintenance programs. His expertise includes forecasting, production control, technical procedures manual development, component aircraft overhaul management, and liaison between FAA/aircraft manufacturers guidelines.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Griffin has held management positions such as technical instructor, production controller, and senior planner. He spent over 30 years in the Middle East consulting government and civilian air carriers. He consulted and advised a major Middle Eastern airline in obtaining their FAA Air Repair Station certification and in-house repair capability. He is an FAA maintenance license holder and instructor.

His last mission was managing technical services and performing component planning forecasting for a fleet of 98 aircraft consisting of: B777-268 (23), MD-90 (29), MD-11F (4), B747-100 (6), B747-300 (10), B747-400 (5), A300-620 (11) and Gulfstream G-3/4 (10).

Marshall Adame, VP Operations

Mr. Adame has recently returned from an assignment as the Airport Director at Basrah International Airport, Iraq, where his mission was to initialize the operations and management of the Airport in preparation of NGO and Humanitarian operations. Prior to that assignment, he was in Egypt for four years as the KAMAN Aerospace / U.S. NAVAIR Logistics Manager. He retired from the U.S. Marines in 1991 after a 22-year career in Aviation Logistics and has since worked for Kaman Aerospace, Skylink-USA, and U.S. NAVAIR. Those assignments over the past twelve years have usually been outside of the USA, including remote areas, and often requiring a Top Secret level Security Clearance. Altogether, Mr. Adame brings 30 years of experience in Aviation Administration, operations, Airport Management, Logistics, purchasing & contract compliance.

As Airport Director, Mr. Adame was responsible for Operations and Management of Basrah International Airport, overseeing 400 employees and a refurbishment and rebuilding budget of about $130 million. Other duties included negotiating contracts with international vendors and contractors representing, mechanical, electrical, and structural interest; oversight of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARS) compliance; oversight of Airport transition from military occupation to full commercial operations and management. Resided on site at Basrah International Airport, Iraq.

Nader Kamali, Director of Sales

Mr. Kamali is a highly accomplished IT professional and systems analyst with extensive domestic and international experience in programming, technology, human relations and strategic planning with high-growth organizations. He is a results-oriented leader with proven success in strategic thinking, planning and problem solving. Mr. Kamali graduated from Syracuse University in New York with a degree in computer engineering. Mr. Kamali's experience includes project management, system analyses, system design, system integrations, networking, telecommunications, oil & gas, directing small businesses, professional sales, military services and teaching programming languages at technology institutes. In additional to managing his own business for ten years, Mr. Kamali has done work for CMG (Computer Modeling Group), Bell West, SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology), Fekete Associates Inc. and IBM Canada.

Antoine S. Khoury, Financial Comptroller

Mr. Khoury has extensive experience in heading various types of
accounting, tax and financial services for private and public
companies. He is an expert in improving operational efficiency and
organizational structure from a management accounting or tax services
side. His main focus is strategic planning and financial reporting
worldwide. Mr. Khoury has a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting
and finance and a Master of Science degree in accounting and business
management. Mr. Khoury holds CPA, CTP, CFP certifications. He is
entitled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service in Washington,
DC.

Jeri M. Burdett, Assistant to President/Office Manager

Ms. Burdett began her administrative support career 20 years ago in the information services division of AFLAC. For the past 12 years, she has, as assistant to the president, worked closely with Dr. Yazdi for both Aviation Management Services and United Persons Incorporated. She managed the office and oversaw the entire Sakhalin Russian project, acting as liaison between the president and contractors, vendors, attorneys, employees, and Russian officials. She was involved in all aviation matters, including the set-up and operation of the airport, airline, and training center, as well as administrative aspects of the corporation.

Muge Karslioglu, Passengers

Muge Karslioglu has 12 years of business development experience and is an expert in the international tourism industry. She is a goal-oriented visionary, committed to developing business environments in third world countries. Karslioglu has received a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and international economics from George Mason University, in 1986. She has received numerous awards, and media coverage on various tourism related topics.

Brian Finnerty, Cargo

Robert Hohman, Ground Handling

Jeff Swain, Commuter/Regional Airlines Manager

Robert Firth, Aircraft Operations

Amir Oveissi, Assistant Vice President

Iraq-based Support:

Zaid Mohsen, Baghdad Office

Hassan Zakho, Public Relations--Iraq Air, Baghdad Office

Mr Zakho is Managing Director of Al Katin Group which was one of the most succesful Iraqi companies to have operated during the sanctions era, and which participated in the UN Oil for food program. He is a life time resident of Baghdad and been directing the Al Katin group for the last 20 years. He has worked in the trade industry, food, manufactoring, real estate, development and management consultancy. He has vast knowledge of the Iraqi market and extensive contacts and resources in both the private and government sector in Iraq. He is well known and respected in Iraq for his ethical corporate practices.

Ahmad Noah Sinjari, In-house Attorney, Baghdad

Mr Sinjari has practised corporate law as an attorney in Baghdad for eight years, and has an extensive understanding of the regulatory and legal codes which have historically existed in Iraq. He is a graduate of Baghdad University, School of Law.

Khorsheed R. Taha, M.D., In-house Doctor, Baghdad

Dr. Taha is a life time resident of Baghdad and has his own clinic which comes with well equipped medical laboratory. He is a general practitioner with over thirty years experience practicing medicine. He graduated from Baghdad University in 1965.