Team

Ben Thomas is the President of VSE Aviation, the parent company of Desser Aerospace. He is responsible for the strategic oversight of the MRO services and product distribution businesses, as well as sourcing, customer relationships, capital allocation and acquisitions. Ben is an aviation industry veteran with deep experience in the aftermarket distribution and services sectors.

Previously, Ben managed aftermarket growth strategies in the aerospace consumables market for Boeing Global Services and KLX Aerospace Solutions (“KLX”). At Boeing, he led a multi-national $2 billion product line, strategy and integration team. As a corporate vice president at KLX, he had a similar role and was additionally responsible for aftermarket sales, e-commerce and pricing strategy. Ben has a track record of consistent, market-leading growth achievements, including both organic and acquisition-related initiatives.

Ben Thomas has a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Southern California.

Ken joined Desser Aerospace in June 1997 and is located at the company headquarters in Montebello, CA. He is responsible for business, product, and key customer development and worldwide growth for the Desser Aerospace family of businesses.

Ken has over 40 years of sales and marketing experience in the aviation and aerospace industry. At Desser, Ken identifies complementary add-on acquisitions, and has integrated multiple repair stations and a PMA transparency division, where he served as President. Ken also developed a portfolio of new products for the aerospace and power sports marketplace. Prior to joining Desser, he was national sales manager for a global aerospace fluid conveyance firm.

Ken is a native of Southern California and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Pepperdine University. Ken has a commercial pilot rating and holds an A&P rating. He has successfully completed the AS9100D quality management system requirements. Ken is an active pilot and a speaker at A&P I/A renewal functions and is a member of many aerospace and industry specific flight and maintenance organizations.

Alec joined Desser Aerospace in February 2018. Alec has more than 19 years of experience in the aerospace industry, primarily in general management and operations. Prior to his role as Vice President of Operations at Desser Aerospace, Alec served as Vice President and General Manager at Zodiac Aerospace. There, he led the design, engineering, certification, manufacturing, and aftermarket product support of Airbus A330/A380, and Bombardier CRJ200/700/900/Dash 8 integrated interior programs.

Alec holds a B.S. degree in Management Science and Information Systems from The Pennsylvania State University.