Author: Henk J. Guitjens
Henk J. Guitjens
Henk J. Guitjens has more than 40 years sales, marketing and management experience in the international airline & airport industry. Mr. Guitjens is currently the Director of Aviation Development for Global Elite Group, Inc. and Avinor Oslo Airport. He has held senior positions with JFKIAT, World Airways and Martinair Holland. Mr. Guitjens was a past President for JFK Chamber of Commerce. He is an Advisory Board member of Vaughn College and York College and a Director of the Netherland-America Foundation. He graduated from the University of Tilburg and is fluent in Dutch, English, French, and German and conversant in Italian and Spanish. He resides in Amityville, NY with his wife Adriana.
On January 17, 1991, while attending a function at the Netherland Club at Rockefeller Center, the reception came to a halt around 7 p.m. when the news broke that the US declared war on Iraq and that an invasion would be imminent. As we were watching the news unfolding with our mouths open, we wondered what this would mean for the economy — the business at hand, and for our aviation future. As VP and General Manager, North America for Martinair Holland, we were knee-deep in the process of launching a substantial scheduled-charter program from Amsterdam to multiple cities in…