
Ian Walsh
Ian Walsh serves as the Chief Executive Officer of FDH Aero.
Ian brings 35 years of extensive leadership experience in the commercial aviation, aerospace and defense industry. Prior to his role at FDH Aero, he served as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board at Kaman Aerospace Corporation, which is a global manufacturer of highly engineered subassemblies, components and parts.
Before Kaman, Ian was the Chief Operating Officer for the REV Group, a leading manufacturer of specialty vehicles, overseeing 30+ brands and 22 manufacturing facilities producing fire engines, ambulances, recreational vehicles, and commercial buses.
Ian spent 20 years at Textron Inc. where he led TRU Simulation + Training Inc. as the President and Chief Executive Officer, providing flight simulation and aircraft training products to the global commercial, civil and military aviation training markets. He also served on Textron’s Executive Leadership Team.
Earlier roles at Textron included senior vice president and general manager of Textron Systems’ Weapon & Sensor Systems. Prior to that, Walsh held several leadership roles at Textron Systems including senior vice president of operations, and senior vice president and general manager of Lycoming Engines. He began his Textron career in marketing at Bell Helicopter.
Prior to joining Textron, Walsh served as an officer and naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1989 to 1996, piloting Cobra attack helicopters with combat tours in Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia. He is an active pilot with more than 2,000 hours of flight time and is commercially rated in helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Walsh earned a bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College, a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. He completed Textron’s Global Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the Senior Executive Leadership Training at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Walsh is a life member on the Council of Foreign Relations and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt in operations.