As a Partner, Christopher Salley brings over 10 years of business aviation experience in sales, marketing, analytics, technology and operations to FBO Partners. In his role with FBO Partners, Mr. Salley leverages his expertise in direct sales and analytics with his deep industry knowledge to drive both market share and profitability to FBO Partners’ client FBOs. Salley began his aviation career as a market intel analyst in maintenance for STS Component Solutions and later Dassault Falcon Jet, where he supported the aircraft sales team. His interest in targeted sales through the usage of data and analytics eventually lead him to CharterX, a leading provider of online solutions for air charter professionals, prior to its acquisition by the Avinode Group. At Avinode, Salley became a founding employee of Avinode’s SchedAero product, eventually overseeing a portfolio of more than 130 customers. Salley later supported Wyvern’s safety auditing program, helping to develop both the IS-BAH (FBO Auditing) and EXACT (Unmanned Aerial System) product lines. Upon completion of his graduate degree, Salley joined one of the oldest, most-respected independent FBOs in the country, National Jets at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL), where he was responsible for sales & marketing for both the FBO division and the Part 145 Repair Station. While at National Jets, Salley added more than one million gallons of new fuel business, established a new ad hoc airline and cargo ground handling program- adding new business in the form of sports charter and cargo freight handling- and maintained over 100% hangar efficiency, all at one of the most competitive FBO markets in the country. With his strong technology background, Salley also oversaw the fuel supplier transition to an unbranded business model, negotiated merchant services to use a third-party provider (card processing) and deployed a new FBO management and Point-of-Sale (POS) software during his tenure. Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Salley is the Vice President of the South Florida Business Aviation Association (SFBAA), a regional charity & lobbying group partnered with NBAA. Salley holds two bachelor’s degrees from Jacksonville University’s Aviation & Business schools with an MBA-A from Embry-Riddle. Salley is fluent in both English and Canadian.
