W.W. (Bill) Boisture Jr., who has made the rounds of top management of several leading business aviation companies, was appointed chairman and CEO of Hawker Beechcraft in late March. Boisture replaces Jim Schuster who had announced his retirement last year.
Boisture has held top positions at Gulfstream, NetJets, SimuFlight and Butler Aviation, the predecessor of Signature Flight Support. He had also been head of British Aerospace Corp, which produced the Hawker series of business jets that are now, of course, a fundamental part of Hawker Beechcraft. Boisture has the reputation for being a tough, no-nonsense manager and he faces a challenge as Hawker Beechcraft struggles with the downturn that has impacted all of general aviation.
Boisture is a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and served for 11 years as a fighter pilot. He continues as an active civilian pilot.
