About Us

Cyrus Sigari and Ben Marcus – Co-founders

The jetAVIVA story began when Cyrus Sigari and Ben Marcus met at the Santa Monica Airport when just 12 years old. From that day, Cyrus and Ben have been best friends and business partners. Born just four days apart, the two met serving as cadets in the Civil Air Patrol. Since those early days of their friendship, the duo have excelled in their aviation careers, soloing at age 16, earning private pilot certification at age 17, commercial pilot and flight instructor certification at age 18, and airline transport pilot certification at age 23. Each holds multiple single-pilot jet type ratings and are rated in the Boeing 747-400. Cyrus and Ben both graduated from Purdue University, where they studied Aeronautical Engineering and Aviation Technology, respectively. They have turned their passion of flight into a business that has helped hundreds of individuals and companies with the world of jet ownership.

Prior to co-founding jetAVIVA, Cyrus served as a principal engineer for Eclipse Aviation during the initial development of the Eclipse 500. After fulfilling his engineering commitments, Cyrus transitioned to sales and sold 50 Eclipse 500s in a one-year period. Outside of his direct efforts at jetAVIVA, Cyrus holds the position of Very Light Jet Editor for Plane & Pilot and Pilot Journal magazines, has been published in Twin & Turbine magazine, and authors Light Jet Pre-Owned market report for Aviation International News. Cyrus is a founding member of the Citation Jet Pilots Owners group and Eclipse 500 Owners Club. He is trilingual in English, Spanish, and Farsi.

Prior to co-founding jetAVIVA, Ben served with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as an aircraft salesman for Cessna's leading domestic aircraft dealer, in operations management with a Fortune 500 corporate flight department, and as a flight test engineer and salesman for Eclipse Aviation. In addition to his efforts at jetAVIVA, Ben has been published in the largely circulated AOPA Pilot magazine and is an active volunteer for Angel Flight. Ben is also a founding member of the Citation Jet Pilots Owners group and the Eclipse 500 Owners Club. Ben speaks several languages and serves on the Flight Technology and Safety Committee of AOPA China.

Matt Stringfellow, Vice President

Matt comes to jetAVIVA as a seasoned aviator and aircraft sales professional. Prior to joining jetAVIVA, Matt most recently served as a Sales Director for the largest new Cessna Dealer in the world. Having bought and sold over three hundred aircraft, Matt holds an expert knowledge of the market of owner flown aircraft. At the age of 13, Matt took his first flying lesson followed by his first solo on his 16th birthday. Matt now holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with a type rating in the Citation Mustang. Matt graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Aviation Technology and minor in business management. Matt also is bilingual in Spanish and English.

Greg Oswald, Vice President

Greg fell in love with airplanes while he was in his teens; after his first flight he was hooked. Greg attended the University of North Dakota where he got a degree in aviation business management, with a minor in finance. While at university, he obtained all his ratings and flight instruction. From working as a lineman at an FBO to working with Fortune 500 flight departments setting up operations, Greg has amassed a wealth of knowledge about corporate aircraft and operations. He currently holds an airline transport license with four types ratings. While working at Eclipse Aviation, Greg was not only one of the top salesmen but also a demonstration pilot. Prior to joining jetAVIVA Greg worked for Bombardier as a demonstration pilot and international trip captain. Greg is responsible for Phenom 100 and 300 sales and demonstration at jetAVIVA.

Marcio Lucchese, Manager, Phenom Acceptance and Delivery

Marcio serves as Manager of Phenom Acceptance and Delivery for jetAVIVA. Born and raised in Brazil, Marcio began his aviation career with Lider Taxi Aereo, Brazil's largest air taxi company. He later flew the Fokker 100 for TAM Airlines and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 for VASP Airlines, both of Brazil. When not accepting and delivering Phenoms for jetAVIVA, Marcio flies the Airbus A320 for a major US airline. His flight experience includes operations in USA, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, The Bahamas, The Turks and Caicos, The Netherlands Antilles, Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Japan, and Korea. Marcio is fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Scott Marti, Transition Training Manager

Scott is an industry recognized expert in Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA). Prior to joining jetAVIVA, Scott most recently served as Chief Flight Instructor and Supervisor of Flight Operations of Columbia Aircraft, later acquired by Cessna Aircraft Company. Over the years Scott has helped develop transition courses from high performance, conventional avionics airplanes to the G1000 cockpit of Cessna's high performance aircraft. With thousands of hours teaching behind G1000 equipped aircraft helping people make the transition to TAA's, Scott's background and attitude has allowed him to help jetAVIVA's Clients make the transition to turbine aircraft a successful, safe, and enjoyable experience.

Holding single-pilot type rating in the Citation Mustang and Phenom 100, Scott is well equipped to help those making the transition to light jets. Scott holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Oregon.

Derrick Schmidt, Director of Maintenance and Technical Services

Derrick's history with Cessna Aircraft is robust. Former Chairman of Cessna, Russ Meyer, hired Derrick's father as his personal pilot. Derrick's father became the first pilot to be single-pilot qualified in a Citation. Derrick got his start with Cessna as a mechanic at the Citation Service Center. He later joined the production flight test team where he flew over 2,000 Citations, including every single Citation X built (through serial 308) as a Senior Citation Flight Test Pilot. Of Derrick's 8,000 flying hours, 7,000 have been in Citations and 5,000 of those were in flight testing. Derrick enjoys restoring classic cars and is an active member of the Society of Experiemntal Test Pilots (SETP).

Patrick O'Brien, Vice President, Market Intelligence

With a broad-based background in aviation and business, Patrick leads jetAVIVA's market research efforts. Patrick has a BS in Aviation Human Factors from the University of Illinois' Institute of Aviation, an Executive MBA from Lewis University, and is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago management program (CMI). He also has a Commercial Certificate, CFII, MEI with over 1000 hours of dual instruction. Prior to joining the jetAVIVA team, Patrick was a sales representative at Eclipse Aviation, and most recently worked for a Chicago-based hedge fund. Patrick's passion for aviation is evident in his employment in almost all major flight operations departments including Fortune 100 flight departments - Part 91, 121, 135, and 141. With his breadth of knowledge, Patrick ensures that jetAVIVA's clients have the most current and accurate data in the marketplace.

Erin Haase, Executive Assistant

Erin brings to jetAVIVA many years of experience in supporting and managing customer support functions of tier one private aviation firms. Prior to joining jetAVIVA Erin managed the west coast sales office for NetJets, the largest operator of private jets worldwide. There she supported 5 Senior VP's of Sales and assisted with large scale Event Productions. Prior to that she managed customer service duties at Gunnell – Northfield Properties at the Santa Monica Airport.

Erin's commitment to providing outstanding customer service and support to the firm's Clients and staff is critical to the firm's success.

Tim Pavell, Creative Services/Webmaster

Tim leads jetAVIVA's branding and creative services, helping position jetAVIVA as the premier light jet sales/acquisition firm. Tim is as passionate about aviation as he is about helping make jetAVIVA stand out from the pack through his management of jetAVIVA's brand and website.

Tim brings over 15 years' experience to managing the conceptualization and production of all print and electronic visuals used in the extensive marketing of jetAVIVA's aircraft. Tim also manages the day-to-day operations of the jetAVIVA web presence.

Tim holds a Graphic Design degree from UCLA and a private pilot's certificate.

To learn more about jetAVIVA please contact us at 1.310.907.5099 or at contact@jetAVIVA.com