AAR named Andrew Schmidt its senior vice president of AAR Digital Services and Trax. Schmidt will work closely with the Trax founders and their leadership team to scale the Trax business by growing the customer base, enhancing customer support, and expanding product offerings through digital innovation. He will help to execute the company’s strategy for Trax, which includes building a foundation for a new parts ecosystem in coordination with AAR and parts suppliers and more broadly incorporating AI into Trax’s offerings.
Schmidt brings more than 30 years of experience across aviation, finance, and digital solutions, including serving as AAR’s senior vice president of intelligent solutions from 2011 to 2018. Under Schmidt’s leadership, AAR acquired and integrated Airinmar and launched PAARTSTM Store, bringing the company’s parts sales online to increase revenue and expand product reach to additional customers. In addition to AAR, Schmidt held various other senior-level roles, including with Seabury Capital, Macquarie Capital’s Aviation and Aerospace Investments, and Oliver Wyman.
“Opportunities exist to more rapidly deploy Trax’s entire portfolio of products and services for existing and new customers to realize operating efficiencies and productivity improvements in their workforces. We are determined to leverage Trax’s position in the mobile software market and expand it to encompass autonomous enterprise solutions,” said Schmidt. “I am excited to work with the Trax team to execute our shared vision.”
“Andy has been involved in our relationship with Trax since the beginning and recognizes the opportunities that exist to strengthen Trax’s foundation and potentially facilitate AAR’s investments in other complementary digital applications and businesses,” said John M. Holmes, AAR’s chairman, president and CEO. “We are excited about his support to grow the Trax business and position AAR’s existing digital services for even greater commercial success.”
Additionally, AAR has been named as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity 2023 by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group.
Newsweek and market data research firm Plant-A Insights recognized America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity in the United States with a list of the 1,000 companies that respect and value different kinds of people. Scoring was based on a review of publicly available data, interviews with HR professionals, and an anonymous online survey of a diverse pool of employees at companies with 1,000 or more employees in the U.S. Respondents were asked questions about corporate culture, working environment, and other subjects at both their own companies and others they were familiar with. The survey yielded more than 350,000 company reviews.
“With the word ‘diversity’ attracting so much attention from companies, it can be tough for job applicants, customers and potential business partners to tell who is serious about supporting a diverse workforce,” said Nancy Cooper, global editor-in-chief, Newsweek.
“Our long-standing commitment to diversity is brought to life in our workforce development efforts, involvement in the community, and the opportunities we create for our employees. We are proud that our employees and others recognize AAR among America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity,” said Tracey Patterson, chief human resources officer, AAR.