PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 08, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erickson Incorporated (EAC) is pleased to announce that Jason Johnson has joined the company as Senior Director of Sales for the company’s Manufacturing and MRO Business Unit. In addition to Mr. Johnson, Scott Cook has joined the company as Senior Director of Business Development for the Americas Region.

In his role as head of Sales for Erickson’s Manufacturing and MRO Business Unit, Jason Johnson is responsible for developing and leading the sales and customer support strategy for the business as well as for managing a global team carrying out sales activities. This business unit provides aerial operators around the world with maintenance, supply chain, and engineering solutions that keep them flying safely and reliably.

Mr. Johnson has extensive sales and customer focused expertise within the aerospace industry. He has a demonstrated track record for achieving results, global leadership and customer focus. Mr. Johnson began his career in the United States Air Force managing teams responsible for aircraft readiness and operations. Following his military experience, Mr. Johnson held a series of executive positions at large aerospace companies. Just prior to joining Erickson, Mr. Johnson served as Executive Director of Sales and Customer Support for Bell Helicopter, TEXTRON in Hurst, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and has completed management coursework at the University of Texas, Dallas and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Scott Cook has also recently joined the company. In Mr. Cook’s role as head of Business Development for the Americas, he is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company’s business development activities for North, South, and Central America. This includes conducting market analysis and identifying new and emerging business opportunities, establishing and maintaining key business partnerships, and identifying new business ventures for this region.

Mr. Cook has a strong background and experience in sales, marketing, and business development including 8 years with Siemens and 12 years with General Electric Corporation. Subsequent roles include Senior Sales and Marketing Advisor for Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for Haverfield Aviation, Inc. and most recently Senior Consultant for Qittitut Consulting LLC. Mr. Cook has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management Technology from Purdue University.

About Erickson

Erickson is a leading global provider of aviation services and operates, maintains and manufactures utility aircraft to safely transport and place people and cargo around the world. The Company is self-reliant, multifaceted and operates in remote locations under challenging conditions specializing in Government Services, Manufacturing and MRO, and Commercial Services (comprised of firefighting, HVAC, power line, construction, timber harvesting, oil and gas and specialty lift). With roots dating back to 1960, Erickson operates a fleet of approximately 80 aircraft, is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, USA, and operates in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Australia. For more information, please visit our new website at www.ericksonaviation.com.

This press release contains certain statements relating to future results (including, without limitation, “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “expect,” “predict”), which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions and estimates based on information currently available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated, including our ability to perform successfully on our Turkey based contracts and also including certain other risks or uncertainties more fully described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in the other reports we file with the SEC from time to time, which are available at the SEC’s web site located at http://www.sec.gov. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.