SPEAKERS

Vance Ontjes, Director of Sales and Customer Service, TRU Simulation + Training, a Textron company
May 1, 2023
Vance is an aviation professional with 20+ years of experience in the field. He is an FAA ATP licensed pilot with 5,000 hours of total flight time across a wide range of aircraft. He was employed by Republic Airways (formerly Chautauqua Airlines) from 2004-2008 as a captain on the Embraer 145 before
transitioning to the pilot training industry. Vance worked for FlightSafety International beginning in 2008 as a simulator instructor on the Cessna Citation XLS series of aircraft before overseeing the Courseware Development department for all Cessna products.
Vance came to TRU simulation in 2014 to manage the Courseware Development team. He received Textron’s highest honor, the Chairman’s Award for Innovation, in 2016 for the development of the world’s first online training course certified by the FAA to allow ground school type-rating currency
training to be completed entirely online.
In 2016, Vance stood up TRU’s first international training center in collaboration with Bell Helicopter in
Valencia, Spain and oversaw its operations until 2019. He returned to the US in 2019 where he currently serves as the Director of Sales and Customer Service overseeing all simulator sales for the business.
Vance holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.