Your aircraft is a reflection of you. So are the people who fly it.
Response Aviation Search is an independent search and advisory firm for private aviation — sourcing and placing the people who fly, run, and safeguard your aircraft, and answering to one person: you.
Confidential by default.
Your crew is the operation.
Owning an aircraft is, before anything else, a people decision. The crew flies the aircraft, represents you to your family and your guests, and decides whether the operation runs safely and on schedule — or becomes a source of cost and concern.
For most new owners it is also the hardest part to get right, because there is no obvious place to find the right people, and no clear way to know that you have. Safety and trust, operating cost, and your own time all turn on it: done right, the operation never reaches your desk; done wrong, it never quite leaves it.
We answer to one person — the client.
Hiring a crew is asset management. You would never hand the management of your wealth to someone you had not vetted, whose incentives you did not understand — and the aircraft is no different. It is a significant asset that must be managed by qualified people, and the decision deserves the same standard. We work through a fiduciary lens.
Single loyalty
We do not sell aircraft, manage fleets, or take commissions from vendors.
Aligned incentives
Our compensation comes only from the client we serve — never from a placement we should not make.
The right data
Every recommendation is backed by market and compensation intelligence, so decisions are informed, not guessed.
You bought it to use it. Not to run it.
Owners do not want to be drawn into the day-to-day of an aircraft — crew schedules, vendor calls, and the judgment calls that recur for as long as it flies. We put the people in place who absorb all of it, so the aircraft simply works: ready to go where you want, when you want, without becoming a second job. Aircraft ownership will always be expensive. It does not have to be a burden.
- Ready
- When you are.
- Discreet
- Handled out of sight.
- Steady
- Built to last for years.
Two engagements, built to do different jobs.
One fills the seats you need. The other builds the entire operation around the aircraft.
Key Personnel Search & Placement
A focused executive search to source, vet, and place the key people your operation needs — one role or several, from chief pilot and captain to director of aviation — backed by the compensation intelligence to attract and keep them.
- One role or an entire crew
- Vetted, reference-checked shortlists
- Enhanced contingency — fee on a successful hire
Flight Department Design & Build
A single engagement that designs the structure of your flight department and recruits every person needed to staff it — advising you through each decision, with impartial information, from delivery to a fully running operation.
- End-to-end department build
- Impartial decision support throughout
- Flat fee by aircraft class — year-long, renewable
The same rigor stands behind both.
- 01Align
Collaborative intake
We align with you and your advisors on mission, culture, and budget before any search begins.
- 02Verify
Vetted shortlists
A small number of rigorously checked candidates per role, with verified references and records.
- 03Decide
Decision support
Side-by-side tradeoffs and onboarding plans, so the choice is clear and defensible.
And everything else the operation needs.
Flight department structure
Reporting lines, responsibilities, and the right model for how the aircraft is actually used.
Compensation guidance
What the right people genuinely cost, and how to structure pay so the good ones stay.
Vendor introductions
Management, maintenance, insurance, and counsel — recommended impartially.
Leadership transitions
Replacing a departing chief pilot or director without disrupting the schedule or the discretion around it.
Operational troubleshooting
An experienced read when an operation is not running right and the cause is not obvious from the inside.
Ongoing advisory
A standing relationship to draw on as the aircraft, team, or mission changes over time.
We make the introductions we would use ourselves — with no financial stake in any of them.
For the people responsible for the aircraft — and the people responsible for the principal.
Corporate Flight Departments
Aviation leaders who want their department structured, staffed, and governed like every other unit of the enterprise.
ExplorePrincipals & Family Offices
Owners — and the advisors around them — who need an independent read on an operation that rarely gets one.
ExploreStrategic Partnerships
Attorneys, CPAs, and aircraft brokers who bring us in when a client’s aviation decisions exceed their lane.
Explore
Accountable to you, personally.
Andrew Gutterman
Principal · New York City
Drawing on experience serving in some of the U.S. Army’s most elite and high-tempo operational units, Andrew learned firsthand that mission success depends on the quality of the people entrusted to execute it. Operating where trust, competence, and accountability were essential reinforced a fundamental belief: exceptional teams are built by identifying, developing, and retaining exceptional individuals.
Today, Andrew advises family offices, private aircraft owners, and corporate flight departments on aviation leadership, organizational structure, staffing strategy, compensation, and long-term continuity planning. He helps clients make informed decisions that align aviation operations with broader objectives, strengthen retention, and mitigate organizational risk.
Confidential by default. A single conversation to begin.
Request a 30-minute alignment call to confirm mission, schedule, and staffing priorities — and to review a tailored staffing plan. Every conversation is treated as confidential.
- Mission & travel profileTypical trips, range, and passenger needs.
- Operational prioritiesUptime, privacy, and cost targets.
- Staffing outcomeRecommended staffing tier and next steps.
- Principal
- Andrew Gutterman
- Telephone
- +1 (929) 476-9598
- agutterman2@responseco.com
- Online
- responseaviationsearch.com