Michael Horan began his aircraft maintenance career at an early age. Growing up in a neighborhood set under Burbank Airport’s flight path, Horan was mesmerized watching planes fly overhead and his passion for aviation grew. He loved working on motorcycles and cars and, at the age of 17, knew he wanted to be in aviation.
Immediately after graduating high school, Horan began taking flying lessons while he attended A&P school. He earned his private pilot license at the age of 19 and his A&P license the following year.
In 2007, Horan began his aviation career as an aircraft technician for a local flight school, gaining years of general aviation/corporate jet experience in Part 145 and Part 135 operations. He received a promotion within a year to lead technician/shop foreman. Horan then served as an AOG mobile support tech for eight years, traveling throughout the country. He performed maintenance planning and control and soon was promoted to the base manager responsible for running day-to-day operations. During this time, Horan worked on various airframes, including Embraer, Citation, Falcon, Bombardier, Gulfstream, Piaggio and Beechcraft.
Horan joined Desert Jet in 2015 as a lead technician and assistant part 135 director of maintenance. He transitioned to the role of Part 145 accountable manager running the Desert Jet Maintenance Repair Station and manual revisions. Recently, he was promoted to director of maintenance (DOM) for Desert Jet’s Part 135 charter services, Desert Jet Charter, overseeing their Citation charter fleet.
As Desert Jet’s DOM, Horan is committed to keeping the company’s charter aircraft safe while maintaining the best operational and dispatch reliability throughout its fleet. In his short time in the DOM role, Horan has been able to enhance processes to minimize aircraft downtime and optimize operational availability.
During the pandemic, Horan remains committed to keeping Desert Jet’s fleet safe and ready to fly. He also works closely with the company’s Part 145 repair station general manager to support his team of technicians and their customers.
Horan has trained new technicians straight out of A&P school who have gone on to lead successful careers. He considers teaching and passing along lessons learned from talented A&P “legends” that he was fortunate to work alongside, as one of his favorite things he has done in his career. Mentored himself for seven years, Horan learned how to expand his knowledge of Part 135 and Part 145 operations and shared that with his apprentices. He specializes in Phenom 100s/300 training and Cessna 560, 550B training.
Horan is a licensed pilot, A&P and flight attendant. He has been the recipient of multiple FAA Diamond Awards and has more than 13 years of experience in turbine aircraft maintenance.
