2023 AMT 40 Under 40 Maintenance Professional: Neena Gill, CPA, CMA — VP/GM Helicopter Programs, StandardAero

Neena Gill has worked her entire career at StandardAero Limited. Gill learned about StandardAero through family, friends and the excellent reputation the company has within Winnipeg. She joined the company while studying for her Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Manitoba’s I.H. Asper School of Business. While working at StandardAero, she made lifelong friendships and had the opportunity to learn from a great group of mentors over the years.

In 2012, when Gill was appointed controller of StandardAero’s Turboprop, Airlines & Fleets (TPAF) Business Unit, she achieved one of the fastest career advancements within the accounting specialization in the company’s history at the time.

In April 2023, she was appointed vice president and general manager of StandardAero’s Helicopter Business Unit. In her new role, she is responsible for a business which supports 3,000 operators in over 85 nations, across five different engine families (GE Aerospace T700/CT7, Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T, Pratt & Whitney Canada PW200, Rolls-Royce M250 & RR300, and Safran Arriel 1 & 2) and 11 airframes, supported from 10 locations in Canada, the United States, and Singapore. Altogether, Gill reports the business unit is nearing $180 million in revenue.

“This role is a lot about strategically leading the team to hit our business goals,” she says. “We really need to ensure we’re taking care of our people, our customers, and our shareholders. We’re successfully supporting all groups and doing it safely in a way that keeps people wanting to come to work here. A lot of my responsibility in this role has been making sure that we have a really strong team which is empowered to help drive this business to success.”

Gill highlights the importance of a safe work and quality culture. “You can see it in the plant: people are proud to work on the product that they’re supporting. Everyone understands how important the job that they are doing is, and has a keen appreciation for how our work directly affects people’s lives.”

And, while Gill says she isn’t very handy herself, she has a strong appreciation for StandardAero’s technicians and engineers, and for the work that the company performs.