Retained executive search · Led from CEE
Aviation & aerospace executive search in CEE
We find CEOs, accountable managers, nominated persons and plant directors for airlines, ACMI operators, MROs and aerospace manufacturers across CEE.
Vladimír Janík leads your search from Prague and personally assesses candidates. For one European operator, Menity placed a CTO, a CHRO and a Chief Compliance Officer.
Co-founded Menity in 2007 and has run it since.
Before you hire, promote or invest
When to involve Menity
01
Find a leader whose experience matches the responsibilities of the post. Before the shortlist, we check relevant qualifications, regulatory experience and how candidates addressed audit findings.
03
We find Maintenance Directors who have opened maintenance lines or expanded repair shops. We check how they staffed the work, controlled costs and met customer turnaround times.
05
We find plant and operations leaders who raised aircraft or component output. We check whether deliveries stayed on time, traceability was maintained, and scrap and rework costs stayed within budget.
02
We check the decisions candidates made in the business they ran. For scheduled airlines, we examine fares and route profitability. For ACMI, private jet charter and cargo operators, we look at pricing, aircraft utilisation and the margins they achieved.
04
We assess which managers can run the acquired business against the new owner’s targets. You get a recommendation on whom to retain, who needs support and where to recruit.
06
We compare internal successors with external candidates, recommend who could take over and when, and identify the preparation each person needs before handover.
Completed mandates
Who our clients appointed
These appointments show how an airline selected its CTO, an MRO group promoted an internal candidate and an aerospace manufacturer appointed a CFO for three sites.
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of
Airline operator · Management board · 2025
Chief Technical Officer
Shortlisted candidates already held nominated-person status.
The brief: The operator needed a CTO to introduce predictive maintenance and improve fleet efficiency. The appointment required regulatory approval.
Our contribution: We searched five countries and checked eligibility before shortlisting. We assessed candidates through structured interviews, a business case, psychometrics and references.
The client appointed a candidate from our shortlist. The regulator approved the appointment.
MRO · People leadership · European search · 2025
Chief People Officer
An international MRO group needed a Chief People Officer to prepare the business for expansion.
We assessed internal candidates from three countries and compared them with external options.
The client appointed the internal candidate we recommended.
Aerospace · Manufacturing · Five-country search · 2025
Chief Financial Officer
An aerospace manufacturer needed a CFO to lead finance across three production sites.
We searched five European countries, shortlisted five candidates with cross-border aerospace manufacturing experience and assessed two internal candidates.
The client appointed the candidate we recommended.
Conversations on safety, operations and manufacturing
Leaders Talk & CEO Perspective
Interviews by Menity founding partners Vladimír Janík and Peter Nemčok with leaders from other industries about safety, production, people and decisions under pressure.
CEO Perspective · September 2026
Managing Director
PERI Slovensko
Leaders Talk · May 2026
VP Retail Ops. & eMobility
Managing Director Slovakia
OMV
Leaders Talk · November 2025
General Plant Director
Stellantis Slovakia
Slovnaft (MOL Group)
Sector perspectives · CEE · November 2026
What we check in aviation and aerospace leaders
Public developments in the sector, and the evidence we look for in candidates’ track records.
CEO / Board · Airlines & ACMI
Protecting margins when ACMI demand falls
ACC Aviation reports that European ACMI block hours fell 25.8% in Q2 2026 compared with Q2 2025.
We check which contracts candidates personally won, how they redeployed aircraft when customers cut flying, and what happened to utilisation and margins.
Managing Director / Head of Base · MRO
Staffing maintenance lines to meet turnaround times
Boeing estimates that commercial aviation will need 728,000 new maintenance technicians worldwide between 2026 and 2045.
We check how candidates trained and retained certifying staff, covered critical shifts and returned aircraft to customers on time.
Plant Director / Operations · Aerospace
Raising output while meeting delivery dates
In June 2026, Collins Aerospace opened its expanded plant in Tajęcina, Poland. The expansion is expected to increase landing gear production capacity by nearly 25%.
We check what output candidates achieved after adding capacity, whether customers received parts on time and how much the plant spent on scrap and rework.
Questions before a senior mandate
What boards, CEOs and CHROs ask first
Why choose Menity for an aviation or aerospace search?
Vladimír Janík personally leads your search from Prague. Before you commit, he explains which employers we can approach, which are off-limits and whether the search should extend beyond CEE. You discuss each shortlisted candidate directly with him, including what they delivered, what their referees confirmed and any concerns that could affect your decision.
How do you check whether someone is ready for our specific role?
Can you replace a senior executive without alerting the market?
We agree who may know about the search, how the role can be described and when your identity may be disclosed. The responsible partner approaches selected candidates directly. Reference contacts and their timing are agreed in advance to avoid exposing the search through a small network of colleagues and former employers.
Speak with Vladimír Janík
Discuss a search or leadership review
Discuss a planned appointment, a nominated person, CEO succession or a review of your leadership team.
Co-Founder &
Managing Partner
Leads Menity’s Aviation & Aerospace assignments.
Based in Prague. Working across CEE.
Confidential. Retained. Partner-led.