Dag Johnsen appointed COO for Aero Norway

Aero Norway, the specialist CFM56 engine repair facility, has appointed Dag Johnsen to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO).  He replaces Neil Russell who became CEO in October. Johnsen joins Aero Norway from United Airlines where he managed the powerplant engineering team for the past ten years and had direct oversight for the technical support of more than 700 CFM56-7B engines in operation. As Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Aero Norway, he will be responsible for ensuring that all maintenance is carried out to the standards established by EASA (CAA-N), FAA, CAAC and other regulatory agencies.

“Dag has worked closely with various MROs throughout the world, both OEM-affiliated as well as independent service providers,” says Neil Russell, CEO.  “This depth of experience has given him a great understanding of how different engine MROs are set up.  In his last role with United Airlines, he had direct oversight over an airline in-house MRO engineering support organisation and has seen the MRO business from both a customer and operator's view and he will bring this perspective to Aero Norway.”

Looking ahead from an operational perspective Johnsen will be building on Aero Norway's heritage and bringing his particular strengths. “As the A320neo and B737MAX family continues to grow we need to start looking at introducing new engine programmes such as the LEAP-1A and -1B”, he explained. “I am very familiar with this engine programme and will streamline the integration into our capability list as we start tooling up.”