Kevin Thomas, Dip.Eng.Surv. M.I.M.E.S.
Managing Director - kevin@amsaustralia.com
Kevin Thomas is a qualified surveyor with substantial experience in aerodrome management, including construction, maintenance and operation. Kevin has had over 26 years of experience in aviation. Prior to starting AMS, he was the Manager at Broome International Airport. Kevin started out as a District Airport Inspector with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, covering most of Western Australia.
Kevin spends a considerable amount of time out inspecting aerodromes and consulting on all facets of aerodrome business. Kevin's qualifications and approvals include a Diploma in Engineering Surveying, a Cert IV in Workplace Training & Assessment, a Private Pilots Licence and CASA Approval (#A012) to conduct Aerodrome Safety Inspections. He is also a member of the Australian Airports Association, Institute of Mining and Engineering Surveyors & WA Institute of Surveyors Inc (Foundation Member).
Wendy Grace
Administrator to Managing Director/Technical Assistant - wendy@amsaustralia.com
Wendy joined AMS in 2005 as Personal Assistant to Kevin Thomas and Office Administrator. This quickly changed to accompanying Kevin on inspection trips in Western Australia, Northern Territory and North Queensland where she also qualified as Chief Straight Stick Holder (prism pole) with the occasional 2nd in Charge of the "Whatname" Machine (Total Station) when required. Wendy now spends the majority of her time out of Perth. To enable her to do this she runs a completely independent traveling office. This includes report writing and P/A duties along with accounts and invoicing requirements, with fax and internet/email access. She is therefore able to duplicate any work requirements she would have back in the office in Perth.
Nathanael Thomas
Manager, Construction & Maintenance - nat@amsaustralia.com
Since joining the company in 1999, Nat initially forged a reputation as a hard working labourer and is now considered a thorough and realistic project manager. His work experience covers the entire gamut of aerodrome construction and maintenance tasks include pavement and movement area construction, lighting installation, runway maintenance and aerodrome painting. Nat is a subject matter expert and will be able to assist you with all your needs in regards to the construction or maintenance of your aerodrome.
Penny Donaldson
Aerodrome Trainer / Advisor - penny@amsaustralia.com
Penny commenced with AMS in 2005 and is an integral member of AMS' roving team of aerodrome managers and support crew. Penny has extensive experience with mine sites, local government and civil aerodromes. Penny has undertaken many roles during her tenure with AMS including aerodrome management, ground handling, works safety officer, security contact officer and compliance assurance. With over 10 years experience within the aviation industry, Penny is AMS' primary workplace trainer and assessor; providing aerodrome reporting officer training for airports Australia wide.
Through AMS, Penny provided aerodrome management for the Newman Airport over a period of eighteen months, overseeing the introduction of the MOS139, enhanced security arrangements, aerodrome certification and the commencement of the Qantaslink fleet of Boeing 717s, the same applies for the Paraburdoo Airport. During these tenures, Penny was the primary contact for all government bodies including CASA, the Australian Federal Police and DITRDLG and was present at all compliance audits undertaken.
Kate Johnstone
Compliance / Outport's Manager - kate@amsaustralia.com
Kate is the subject matter expert in regards to compliance with CASA requirements when an airport takes the leap to become certified. With extensive experience on mine site and regional aerodromes and a great relationship with CASA representation, Kate is the right person to have assisting you in this complicated process. Kate has filled a variety of roles in the industry including aerodrome management, ground handling, works safety officer and compliance assurance.
Karl Valentin
Paraburdoo Airport Manager - paraairport@amsaustralia.com
Commercial Pilot, multi-engine command instrument rating, Cert IV workplace training and assessment. Volunteer fire fighter.
Karl joined AMS in January of 2007 taking up the position of airport manager in Paraburdoo. His career includes 21 years service in the regular army attaining the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2 and spent a total of 14 years with the Special Air Service Regiment.
Since leaving the army in February 2000 Karl has worked as a safety trainer in the offshore oil and gas industry specialising in Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), basic firefighting and offshore heli-deck operations training Helicopter Landing Officers (HLO) and refuellers. His overseas experience saw him training offshore workers in countries such as; Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Angola, Nigeria, Sweden, Germany and Australia.
In 2005 he took up a post with the UN in Kabul, Afghanistan as the head of logistics and support to a $300US million roads construction program. He was closely involved with the air operations side of the program including aircraft tasking and air service tender evaluation.
Karl continues as the manager at Paraburdoo on a fly in / fly out roster and is able to advise clients on matters pertaining to compliance with the requirements of the Aviation Transport Security Act and Regulations.
Nigel Taylor
Paraburdoo Airport Manager - paraairport@amsaustralia.com
Nigel and Karl work closely together at the Paraburdoo airport. Parburdoo is a very busy airport becoming one of the hub's in the Pilbara region. Nigel is a very experienced airport manager and reporting officer and is also training in drafting services to further develop his assistance to AMS.
Jamie Copeland
Training Manager - training@amsaustralia.com
Jamie Copeland has worked with heavy industry, emergency management and the associated training required in these fields for over 15 years. Jamie's primary role with AMS is to manage all of the training and trainers provided by AMS. It is envisaged by AMS that training will be developed and expanded further in the future to include many other training courses. The extra training courses will ensure AMS is a one stop shop for all your training needs for personnel working at Aerodromes.
Future courses to be included in Aerodrome Management Services Pty Ltd scope are Aerodrome Manager, Aerodrome Reporting Officer, Aerodrome Works Safety Officer, Aerodrome Refueler, Aerodrome Security, Aerodrome Wildlife Control Officer, Aerodrome Ground Operator and Work Safety Around Aircraft.
Jamie will be integral in AMS' development of these training courses and will assist with the implementation of these new courses.
Peter Alleman
Halls Creek Airport Manager - hcairport@amsaustralia.com
Peter is currently the Aerodrome Manager at Halls Creek Airport. Being in such an isolated community, maintaining the serviceability and quality of the aerodrome is essential. Peter's presence at this aerodrome has shown a marked improvement in the operation of the aerodrome.
Fraser Sparks
Civil Engineer - fraser@amsaustralia.com
Degree qualified Civil Engineer with 12 years experience in road pavement construction and maintenance. Fraser has previously worked for government highways agencies, contractors and most recently with the UN in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Fraser has recently joined AMS and will be assisting with superintendence and project management of runway upgrades and construction.
Rowan (Johnno) Johnston
Paraburdoo Refuelling Officer - Shell_YPBO@amsaustralia.com
Johnno has been working with AMS since October 2011 and is qualified by Shell as an A.C.E. Major Aircraft Refueller. Johnno is based in Paraburdoo on a permanent basis and is on-call to assist with refuelling for aircraft any time, day or night. It is Johnno's professionalism that ensures that aircraft such as RFDS and Qantas jets can depart in a timely fashion from the regional hub, Paraburdoo Airport.
Austin Boggans
Design Drafter - austin@amsaustralia.com
Wendy and Rob Strada
Groote Eylandt Airport Management - gteairport@amsaustralia.com
Wendy and Rob are currently performing the role of ARO / Airport Manager at the Groote Eylandt Airport in the Northern Territory. Carrying out this role in such a remote part of the world presents certain challenges which Wendy and Rob manage valiantly. BHPB (GEMCO) are the owners of the Groote Eylandt aerodrome and AMS has secured a long term contract with GEMCO to safely manage this airport. It has been noted by the client that since AMS arrived in Groote Eylandt, there has been a very pleasing increase in the professionalism and safety at the airport.
Ruth Thomas
Bookkeeper / Accounts Payable - nt_ams@bigpond.com
Ruth is an intrinsic part of AMS. Since the companies inception, Ruth has been backing up the company providing assistance with the books and the accounts of the company. Ruth ensures that everyone at AMS is provided with the support needed for the company to continue functioning.
Luke Bruce-Smith
Airport Consultant - luke@amsaustralia.com
Luke has an enthusiasm for aviation and a passion for aviation safety. Luke initially started work in the aviation industry with a charter airline and gained experience in many aspects of aircraft ground handling. Prior to his time in the aviation industry Luke worked in the transport industry with a mix of operator and management experience.
More recently Luke has spent five years managing the Telfer airport and has worked to achieve an operation with good reputation in the region. Projects include the establishment of a safety management system document for the aerodrome with links to the existing mine site operator safety management processes, drug and alcohol management, aerodrome document control review, training systems for the airport, airport lighting and airline aviation compliance management for the site.
Luke has chaired the Aerodrome Safety Management System Committee during his time spent at Telfer and has participated in collaborative group risk assessments, meetings and system reviews. Integration of the Safety Management System into all of the airports systems is certainly important. Luke has taken pride in using the safety management system to implement changes in staff training for which he holds a Certificate IV in Training & Assessment.
In addition to his aviation training & assessment experience Luke brings with him an expertise in best practice aerodrome wildlife hazard management techniques, document control, safe working procedures, Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS), aerodrome emergency planning, and aircraft ground handling.
The challenges of remote airport management are certainly different to those of city airports. Luke understands these challenges and the approaches required for safe and successful regional airport operation.
Reith MacLeod
Relief Airport Manager
Reith commenced Airport Management at Broome International Airport in 1991 and facilitated and assisted with many changes during his 17 years at this airport. During his time at Broome, Reith oversaw the refueling, ground handling, passenger screening, emergency response and airport facilities. This also included looking after the workshop areas and lease holders on the airport land.
Carol Birkbeck
Administration Assistant - admin@amsaustralia.com
Carol joined AMS in February of 2012 as an Administration Assistant. Carol has an exceptional amount of experience including working with companies such as Dataflow, Wilson, Toyota and Coca Cola.
Carol's duties with AMS are wide ranging and include keeping track of where everyone in the company is and ensuring that we are able to contact everyone, providing quotations to clients in regards to equipment and training needs, ordering goods, general administration duties and being the window to the company buy responding to the many phone calls we recieve each day.
AMS is constantly growing and the administration support we are provided with ensures that we remain professional and punctual to all our clients.
Andrew Denholm
Paraburdoo Aerodrome Reporting Officer - andrew@amsaustralia.com
Overview in regards to Andrew is coming soon.
Frank Watterston
Weipa Airport Manager - weiairport@amsaustralia.com
Overview in regards to Frank is coming soon
James Fraticelli
Boolgeeda Airport Manager - bgdairport@amsaustralia.com
Overview in regards to James is coming soon
Neil Shay
Weipa Security Supervisor - weisecurity@amsaustralia.com
Overview in regards to Neil is coming soon
Steve Munns
Weipa Aerodrome Reporting Officer - weiairport@amsaustralia.com
Overview in regards to Steve is coming soon