Sam Thornton
Sam Thornton entered the aviation industry in 1988 with Rich International Airways. At Rich, Thornton was part of the Finance department managing leased in aircraft, his last position being Director of Airline Operations. In 1991 he joined Pro-Tech Advisors, Inc., an aviation technical consulting company involved in the inspection, valuation and assessment of commercial aircraft. In 1992, he joined NSJ Corporation as Vice President managing the aircraft sales and leasing operations involving fleet acquisitions, subsequent disposition via sales and operating leases, passenger to freight conversions and aircraft tear downs. While at NSJ he launched and acted as Managing Director of a subsidiary company, Aircorp Spares, which specialized in the sales and leasing of aircraft and engine spare parts. In 1995 he became a partner in NSJ. In 1998 NSJ was sold to Unicapital Corporation.
In September 2000, upon expiry of his employment contract with Unicapital, Sam Thornton and partners formed a new venture in aircraft sales and leasing called Automatic.
Since entering the aviation industry in 1988 he has been directly involved in the sales, leasing and trading of over 200 commercial jet aircraft.
