From a young age, Lambros Floros was fascinated with airplanes and the mechanics of flight. "I often found myself asking: how does something, so big, fly?" He spent a lot of time at the airport with his dad watching takeoffs and landings.
Vasin Settachan is Floros' strategic mentor at Envoy. He took Floros under his wing and got him involved with many E-175 and Chicago Hub projects. "He has helped me grow at Envoy in a multitude of ways. Without him and without his guidance, I would not be in my current manager position."
Floros received his A&P and bachelor's degree in aviation maintenance management at Lewis University. He also completed Embraer 140/145/175 and CRJ 700 familiarization courses, GE CF34-8C/E, Rolls-Royce AE3007A, Principles of Troubleshooting, Train the Trainer, Check Runman, and various leadership courses with Envoy. He also received E-175 training from Embraer trainers when Envoy received the first aircraft and became a subject matter expert and helped with the transition of the new aircraft to the fleet.
In October 2013, he joined Envoy as a mechanic focused on Embraer 140/145 and CRJ 700s. A quick study, he learned a lot from senior technicians and tech crew chiefs which helped propel him into his next role: the go-to guy for troubleshooting aircraft. When Envoy took delivery of the Embraer 175, he was chosen to be one of the first in Chicago to learn the aircraft. That was when he met his mentor. This year he was named manager for aircraft maintenance which includes the entire Chicago maintenance hub operation of 140 mechanics, crew chiefs/tech crew chiefs, 12 supervisors, and 70 aircraft with 200 flights a day.
Nominated by Minnette Velez, Communications Specialist, Envoy Air: "From the beginning of his career, Lambros Floros was known as an exceptional mechanic. His aircraft knowledge and troubleshooting ability were many years beyond his experience level. When the E175 training began in 2014, Floros was one of a select few designated as a Subject Matter Expert by the company. He received specialized training on the aircraft in order to lead and train all other mechanics on maintenance practices for the E175 aircraft. In his current role as manager on duty, he continues to do a great job working problem aircraft in the hub to keep our airline operating on time with minimal disruptions to our customers. Floros is always willing and able to help out his team and spends quality time during the day working with the crew chiefs and line mechanics to quickly resolve maintenance issues on quick aircraft turnarounds. He has become a reliable resource for all Envoy mechanics because of his knowledge and willingness to help others. During his time as an administrative supervisor, he worked tirelessly to strengthen the tooling inventory, working closely with avionics technicians and technical crew chiefs to ensure the aircraft maintenance tooling needed to improve our ability to troubleshoot and fix maintenance issues on our fleet was readily available. He’s also been instrumental in the acquisition of new equipment to make our operation more efficient. But his skills go beyond the line, as he combined his technical and administrative skills to revamp the training department. Through his contribution, he supported the development of a new training tracking program and the creation of a new training management office. Floros sets the tone for our priorities and directs the execution of maintenance at Envoy’s largest hub. His meteoric rise is remarkable for an individual with such a short time in the industry."
Floros gives back to the industry by being a mentor to new supervisors and mechanics that are hired for Chicago. "Just like Vasin, I take them under my wing and help them to navigate their own success. A firm believer in the ‘One Team’ mantra, I try to facilitate positive working relationships amongst my team and the many other workgroups we interface with daily.
"My career goals are to continue to grow, continue to learn, and continue to be as good of a mentor as Vasin has been for me. If I can help just one person, that’s a success. However, I’m not content with helping just one. As I continue to move up the leadership ranks, it’s imperative that I elevate others and provide them the tools necessary to find their own success."
