Ags Receives the 100% Club Award from Honeywell

April 2019

Volume 12, Issue 1

From the Desk of the Chairman “Our Business is to both tragedies. called aviophobia. Airplanes are, in fact, the safest way to travel. Keep You Flying” Headlines like these make us So why are people more afraid question things…the skill of 7840 Airpark Road these pilots, the engineering of flying? Devastating events skill of the aircraft’s manufac- such as plane crashes grab our Gaithersburg, MD 20879 turer, the skill of the commer- attention, induce fear, and USA cial aviation companies that tend to stick in our minds, purchase and operate these giving us the false impression planes and the safety of flight that these events are common 301-590-9200 as a means of mass transportation. occurrences no matter how in- frequently they happen. www.agsusa.com To now question these things, after these 2 tragic incidents, The Aviation Safety Networks ur business, commercial is just basic human nature. data shows, despite sever- INSIDE THIS ISSUE: aviation, has been in the The pilots are only human, and al high-profile accidents, the O year 2018 was one of the saf- CHAIRMAN MESSAGE 1 headlines a lot lately. these aircraft are designed and est years ever for commercial The headlines have been con- built by humans. HONEYWELL 100% CLUB AWARD 1 cerning, sad and less than flat- aviation. tering to the industry in some Humans ask questions and CUSTOMER PROFILE 2 cases. learn. That’s what puts we “hu- Commercial aviation as a – AIR PEACE mans” at the top of the evolu- means of transport is extreme- They have, over the past 6 tionary pyramid. Yet, while ly safe. These crashes will be SUMMIT 2019 MRO CONFERENCE 2 thoroughly investigated. The months, included heart-break- we humans are so evolved; we AGS ATTENDS THE MRO 3 ing stories of the loss of 2 737 often concern ourselves with causes of these incidents will AFRICA 2019 MAX aircraft …hundreds of lives irrational and unfounded fears. be discovered and corrected. lost…and the aircraft manufac- The Boeing 737 Max will fly STATE OF MARYLAND GRANT 3 turer, Boeing’s urgent quest for According to some estimates, again, but we’ll have learned INTERESTING AVIATION FACTS 3 a fix to the system which has as many as 25 percent of all how to prevent a reoccurrence been found, based on prelim- Americans suffer some ner- of these tragedies. That’s what AGS & ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES 4 inary findings, to have caused vousness about flying usually we humans do. LUNCHEON

TROPICAL CYCLONE IDAI 4 AGS Receives The 100% Club Award From HONEYWELL MARU GOODWILL WEBSITE 4 CARLA HOSBY’S 5 Quarterly reviews are conduct- GS proudly announces Nick said, “ This is a new pro- 30TH ANNIVERSARY that we have received gram which was deployed this ed in order to track progress.” A SAVING FOR RETIREMENT 5 the 100% Club award (plaque) year and recognizes sales rev- replied Nick. from Honeywell recognizing enue achievements for 2018.” In closing, Nick wished AGS AGS 2018 HOLIDAY PARTY 6 our achievement of hitting 100 AND SERVICE AWARDS % of our Honeywell sales tar- “Annual Operating Plans are success in again achieving our gets for 2018. set by taking into consider- operating plan this year, 2019. NEW BORNS 7 ation existing revenue, mar- Our AGS VP Honeywell Chan- Ken Connor, AGS’ Director-Mar- nel Partnership, Joel David, DELANO WALTERS NEW FILM 7 ket growth drivers (i.e. flight “ESCRIBIENDO EL GENERAL” keting spoke with Nick May- hours, traffic growth and spe- said “We can do it again!” nard, Honeywell’s Channel cific customer targets) in order FAVORITE AGS QUOTES 7 Partner Marketing Manager for to set a yearly target growth Europe, Middle-East, Africa number. This iterative process and India (EMEAI) about the is worked in conjunction with award. the Honeywell team’s regional managers, Finance depart- I asked Nick, “Nick, how long ment and Channel Director as has the 100% Club been in ex- well as AGS team members, istence?” until targets are agreed to. www.agsusa.com Page 2

Customer Profile - Air Peace Of Nigeria

ur customer, Air Peace of Nigeria, to dramatically expand their operations gional and international markets.” is a private airline with its head from their base in Lagos into mini-hubs Air Peace Mission: O offices in Lagos State, Nigeria. Air across Nigeria and West Africa. “To expand locations both domestical- Peace, founded in 2013, provides passen- ly and beyond as the largest and most ger, cargo and charter services to 19 ma- Air Peace has become the largest airline profitable airline company to achieve jor cities in Nigeria and regionally across in West Africa, operating a fleet of 23 air- safe, efficient and affordable short West Africa. craft at present and 10 B737-8’s and 10 and long-haul services.” ERJ 195 E-2’s on firm order and options Air Peace Hopper, a subsidiary of Air for 20 more of the type. Air Peace CEO Allen Onyema said: Peace operating Embraer ERJ- 145’s, was “One of the major ideas behind setting established to serve “thinner routes” on Air Peace’ Vision: up Air Peace is to create massive employ- which mainline Air Peace B737’s would “To be ever dependable through the ment opportunities for Nigerians, there- prove uneconomical to operate. AP Hop- creation of seamless connections and by contributing to the well-being of our per serves to allow Air Peace mainline network options for our domestic, re- people.”

Summit Aerospace Of Miami Florida Attended MRO Africa 2019 With AGS n 2014 AGS forged a maintenance, Summit Aerospace is a Boeing Certified Interesting repair and overhaul alliance with repair facility. Summit’s certifications I Summit Aerospace of Miami, Florida. and extensive capabilities enable AGS Aviation to serve the MRO needs of internation- This year our partner Summit attended al commercial airlines around the globe. Facts and joined AGS at our exhibit booth at The AGS and Summit Aerospace teams the MRO AFRICA 2019 in Johannesburg, take pride in delivering personalized ser- South Africa. Mario de La Torre, Sr. VP vices and tailored customer solutions…on Marketing and Sales joined Teddy Kassa time, on budget, every time. • The worlds smallest jet is the and the AGS team at our booth to project the closeness of the relationship of our 2 AGS CEO, Teddy Kassa said, “Summit BD-5 Micro. Its wingspan is 14-21 companies. Aerospace is a highly sought-after, Boe- feet and it weighs 358 pounds. ing Certified and extremely capable MRO Summit Aerospace was founded in 2001 in partner. AGS is very proud to be associ- • One windshield window frame of Miami, Florida. Since then, Summit has ated with them.” acquired several firms in order to expand a Boeing 747-400 cockpit costs their MRO support capabilities. Summit, as much as a BMW. currently housed in 3 facilities but mov- ing all operations under one roof shortly, • Only five percent of the world’s focuses their repair capabilities on pow- er generation, hydraulic and pneumatics, population has ever been on an landing gear and avionics. airplane.

• MAYDAY is derived from the French word Maidez, which Mario De La Torre, SVP Marketing and Sales, means “help me”. Summit Aerospace, Ken Connor, Director-Mar- keting, AGS, Teddy Kassa, AGS CEO and Yonas Alemayehu, Global GSE Sales Manager www.agsusa.com Page 3

AGS Attends the MRO Africa 2019 Conference in South Africa nce again, AGS attended and exhib- Our MRO Alliance partner, Mario de la Attending the MRO conference also gave ited at the MRO Africa 2019 Confer- Torre VP Marketing and Sales for Summit us the opportunity to meet with regional Oence in Johannesburg, 18-20 March Aerospace of Miami Florida, joined us at channel partner, Honeywell. Honeywell 2019. The annual MRO conference pro- our booth during the conference. staff at the meetings were from offices vides AGS a not to be missed opportunity Teddy Kassa said, “This important confer- in Geneva, Prague and South Africa. The to network with customers and industry ence gives AGS the opportunity to intro- Honeywell team roundly congratulated contacts. duce Summit Aerospace to many of our AGS on achieving 100% of our revenue regional airline customers, offering them sales target in 2018. They challenged AGS Our team included AGS CEO Teddy Kassa, more MRO repair options.” to do it again this year. our Regional Sales Manager and Global GSE salesman, Yonas Alemayehu, Ken Con- nor Director-Marketing and SVP Marketing and Sales for Summit Aerospace Mario de la Torre.

Ken Connor, AGS’ Director – Marketing and AGS’ advance-man for the conference, flew out a day early to ensure our exhibit booth shipment was delivered to the con- vention center in time for us to set up early on Sunday 17 March.

Teddy Kassa, AGS’ CEO was invited to attend the by invitation only Technical Director’s meeting. One of the topics discussed was Boeings recent forecast re- garding demand for MRO services market in Africa. Nick Fadugba, President and CEO of African Aviation, said, “Boeing had forecast demand for MRO services in Afri- ca to grow by 273% by 2037.” MRO AFRICA 2019 Technical Director’s Meeting

State Of Maryland Encourages AGS To Continue To Grow U.S. Exports From The State

ost US States have a Department opment, international investment, trade liver a final report to the state Depart- of Commerce (DOC). Maryland has including exports and tourism. ment of Commerce on export activity and M one too. job creation subsequent to our attending Teddy Kassa said, “Due to the export ac- this important maintenance, repair and The Maryland DOC’s primary task is to tivity AGS generates, I am pleased to re- overhaul conference. serve as the state’s economic develop- port that AGS has been granted its 3rd ex- ment agency. The DOC stimulates private port grant, which Maryland encourages us investment and creates jobs by attracting to use for activities that grow internation- new businesses, encouraging the expan- al exports from Maryland to the world.” sion and retention of existing companies, and providing workforce training and fi- We took this year’s grant and obliged the nancial assistance to Maryland companies. DOC by using it to partially offset the ex- penses associated with AGS’ appearance Commerce also promotes the state’s many and exhibition at the MRO AFRICA 2019 commercial advantages and its outstand- Conference in Johannesburg. ing quality of life to spur economic devel- AGS will, over the coming 12 months, de- www.agsusa.com Page 4

AGS Hosts Annual Friendship Luncheon For Ethiopian Airlines arlier this year AGS staffers again lines. Accordingly, Kassa, like all of us took a complete luncheon out to here at AGS, have a special place in our E the ET team at Washington Dulles hearts for Ethiopian Airlines. International Airport. Hosting the Ethi- opian Airlines team at Dulles has become A month later, AGS was saddened at the an annual event. The photos reflect that news of the loss of ET flight 302. AGS im- “a good time was had by all”. mediately expressed our condolences to the Ethiopian operational team at Wash- Our founder and AGS Chairman of the ington Dulles International Airport and to Board, Mr. Kassa Maru, started his com- Tewolde Gebremariam, ET’s CEO. mercial aviation career at Ethiopian Air-

Tropical Cyclone Idai Tropical cyclone Idai was one of In the Southern Hemisphere, it current- the worst tropical cyclones to af- ly ranks as the third-deadliest tropical T fect Africa and the Southern Hemi- cyclone on record, behind the aforemen- sphere. tioned 1892 Mauritius cyclone and the 1973 Flores cyclone. The cyclone’s exact The long-lived storm caused catastrophic death toll is expected to never be known. damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, leaving more than 1,000 people AGS CEO Teddy Kassa was in Mozambique dead and thousands more missing. Idai immediately after the cyclone and made a is the second-deadliest tropical cyclone generous donation directly to a local disaster recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean relief fund established to help LAM Mozam- basin, behind only the 1892 Mauritius cyclone. bique Airlines staff who lost their homes in the disaster. The Maru Goodwill Website Has Launched And Is Ready For Your Donations: www.marugoodwill.org www.agsusa.com Page 5

What Happened In 1989? Our Lovely Carla Hosby Joined AGS ay 1st, 2019 will mark the 30th an- Carla is currently Executive Administra- niversary of our own Carla Hosby tive Assistant to our Chief Operating Of- Mjoining AGS. ficer, Ms. Yem Maru. When Carla joined AGS the company was In addition to her creative roles as pho- located on Standish Place in Rockville, tographer and administrative lead for Maryland. our company newsletter, The AGS Flyer, Carla is also a skilled utility player here Carla joined the team at the tender at AGS. young age of 23. Carla’s famous lunch time naps have kept her looking young! Her job experience is deep and so broad that she can virtually fill-in any adminis- Carla started her career here at AGS as tration position in our operation. That the Accounting Secretary to the Vice multi-departmental experience is a very President of Finance, Melesse Maru. valuable commodity at AGS. Then, as Carla’s career progressed, she held positions in Technical Operations, Carla always looks the “fashion-plate”, Sales, Purchasing and the Repairs De- is punctual, detail oriented, profession- partment. al and always brightens every day for all of us here at AGS. Happy Anniversary Carla – you’re appreciated!

Saving For Retirement here are plenty of excuses that ing their savings. One of the most signif- As you continue to contribute over time people use for not saving for re- icant effects of living longer in terms of you will be earning more interest on the T tirement. And they all sound good your retirement savings needs is that you money you have, than you put in each and you probably have a few of your will likely have to pay more in healthcare month. You should at least be contrib- own. Instead of stirring that pot, I’ll give during your lifetime. uting up to your employer’s match, if you a few good reasons on why I believe available and eventually, you should con- you should save for retirement. The sooner you start saving for retire- tribute 10 to 15 percent of your gross in- ment, the less you will have to save in come. You can contribute to your 401(k) Do you want to rely on the government, the future. You can put your money to as well as an IRA. i.e. Social Security, or company profit work for you, especially if you take ad- sharing to finance your retirement years? vantage of the magic of compounding There are many reasons to start saving for Those resources are limited and a gam- interest. retirement sooner rather than later. For- ble as to what age to begin to draw the tunately, if you feel you’ve fallen behind funds. For example, if you opened an account on your savings, it’s not too late. Work with $1, deposited $100 every month for with your financial advisor or a trusted Saving in a tax-deferred retirement ac- 10 years, and earned a 6.5 percent inter- financial professional to help you set new count reduces your current income taxes. est rate or return, you’d have $16,842. savings targets and get back on track to- Keep it up for another 10 years (20 total) wards your goals. Achieving a comfortable Saving in a tax-deferred account produc- and you’ll more than double your money retirement isn’t out of reach with proper es a compound effect on your return on to $49,045. After 30 years of just $100 preparation and planning. investment, see below example. each month saved, you’d have $110,624 (including compounded interest) from Joseph Rzepka Longer lifespans mean people are outliv- your $36,000 investment.

The AGS Flyer is also available on our website at www.agsusa.com www.agsusa.com Page 6

Service Awards Presented At 2018 AGS Holiday Party he AGS Holiday party is yet another Recognition awards: knows most of our customers by their activity the company supports in Adam Klocek had a great year. First, he voice alone. T order to deliver a great quality of was promoted to a Sr. Purchasing Agent, work life to all our team members. then he married his sweetheart Sara, and Cesar Espana has been recognized this finally, he completed 5 years at AGS!! year by Yem Maru for his continuous hard AGS traditionally takes the opportunity Adam was recognized this year by Teddy work, good attitude, constant willing- to recognize team members who have Kassa for his extra efforts on the many ness to go above and beyond, and his been observed going above and beyond projects that were assigned to him. dedication to AGS and the AGS custom- in their jobs, delivering that extra effort ers. Cesar is the first-person customers on behalf of our company. Carla Hosby was recognized by Yem Maru see when they arrive and usually the last for her dedication at AGS. Carla, be- person that customers see before they We also take this opportunity to recog- cause of her 30 years of service, under- board their plane to go home. nize team members who have passed stands very well the cycle of our business years of service milestones during the and she is always able to fill in on any of Service Awards: calendar year. This past year was no ex- the admin positions when needed. She is ception. also the first person to greet callers and Ali Sadah: 20 years of service– Manager – Stores Dept. Nabel Sadah: 10 years of service– Shipping Agent – Stores Dept. Delano Walters: 5 years of service- Shipping Agent – Stores Dept. Adam Klocek: 5 years of service– Sr. Purchasing Agent – Purchasing Cesar Espana: 5 years of service– Guest Services Driver – Corporate Services www.agsusa.com Page 7

New Borns Favorite AGS

la Lahham, AGS Manager Custom- Ali Sadah, AGS Manager-Stores is also Quotes er Service & I/T, is thrilled to re- thrilled to report that his new grand- In life we find words of wisdom to live A port that his new granddaughter, daughter, Neeya Seid, 7.9 pounds, was by. The below are quotes from the Mariam Muhsen, 9.1 pounds was born No- born Thursday January 10th, 2019. The deepest thoughts of the bright minds vember 29, 2018. The proud parents are proud parents are Seid Hassen Moham- at AGS. We give you the motivational Saif Muhsen and Wala Lahham. med and Bairout Ali Sadah. and inspirational quotes that inspire our employees.

Joseph Rzepka: “The difference be- tween genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” – Albert Einstein

Bill Nye: “Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort”. – John Ruskin

Marcia Palu: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” –Walt Disney

Belyneh Kassa: “A tree is known by its fruit.” - (Zulu)

Teddy Kassa: “When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts AGS Receiving Agent Delano Walters at home.”– Betty Bender Tiffanie Allen:“Arriving at one goal is Takes Aim at Hitting The Big-Time the starting point to another.” - John Dewey ur own Delano Walters recently “One of the main reasons I took the Cesar Espana: “Full belly happy heart.” took another step towards acting role was because the story is part of – Lovely Dayby Ernesto O fame and stardom by playing a my homeland’s history. Additionally, it principal role in the Panamanian film was an opportunity to work with one of Charlene Sohrab: production of “Escribiendo El General” the best directors in Panama, alongside “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people which translates in English to Writing a very professional cast and crew, on will never forget how you made them the General. a film that should open this fall after feel” – Maya Angelou a red-carpet premier. Then the film is The film was directed by Oscar Faarup, expected to enjoy wide distribution in Joel David: “Success starts with U.” – Zig a well-known and highly respected Panama and hopefully, be showcased Zigler producer/director of films in Panama. throughout all Latin America.” Delano Walters:“Life is too short to be The movie, loosely based on a 1980’s true angry all the time” – Barbara Johnson story, depicts the harsh reality of life in Kenneth Connor: “We the willing, led Coiba Prison, on an island off the coast by the unknowing, are doing the impos- of Panama, during a notorious period sible for the ungrateful. We have done of corruption. The film is biographical so much, with so little, for so long, we and tells the story of a journalist who are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.” – Mother Teresa operated clandestine newspapers in Panama in the 60’s and 70’s winds up a Ala Lahham: “MOM Life …. WIFE Life .... political prisoner in Coiba Prison. Blessed Life.” - Esty

Carla Hosby: “You are as old as you Our own Delano Walters plays lead feel.” – Paul Simon prison guard, Evo, one of the most dangerous characters you could ever Kassa Dibaba: “The highest form of ig- imagine…he literally is the prisoner’s norance is when you reject something worst nightmare. Delano’s character is you don’t know anything about.” – Wayne Actors Alfonso Gomez (left) and AGS’ Delano Dyer a powerful presence in the film. Walters, awaiting unwanted guests to the prison. AGS Flyer Committee

Editor – Yem Maru Creative Writer – Ken Connor Photographer & Creative Design – Carla Hosby Contributing Writer – Charlene Sohrab

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