Meet the EquityJet Leadership Team

Austin Hunt - President and Founder: Austin is the founder and President of EquityJet, Inc. Austin started the business in 2017 with the concept of giving clients a value-driven approach to business jet ownership, drastically lowering the cost of private travel. Austin leads the Customer Relations and Aircraft Brokerage divisions at EquityJet and is also an accomplished aviator. He continues to fly EquityJet clients and provides captain upgrade/IOE, North Atlantic crossing, European operations, and high altitude airport operations training and mentorship to EquityJet pilots. He also stays active in the local aviation community and he is the President of the Kansas City Business Aviation Association (KCBAA).

Jim Dickerson - Director of Operations: Jim comes to EquityJet with a background in business development, public relations, broadcasting and communications. His career started as a police officer with the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department where was named Officer of the Year in the State of Missouri in 1992. He spent several years as an FAA Designated Operations Safety Counselor, was named Operations Safety Counselor of the year in 2001 and he served on the Contract Negotiations Team for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) representing pilots during contract negotiations. Jim serves on the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Business Aviation Association (KCBAA) and is the President of the Board at Prime Broadcast Group (parent company for 102.7FM KPGZ and KMO-TV). Jim is a Captain at EquityJet and he and his wife Sarah, who is a pilot for United Airlines, enjoy flying their Oshkosh award winning antique 1947 C-120.

Aaron Juhl - Chief Pilot: Aaron grew up with a love of flying and followed this passion into the United States Air Force Academy followed by a 21-year Air Force career. At the Academy, he played Division 1 Soccer and studied Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. In the Air Force, Aaron flew several aircraft including the T-34, T-38 and T-6; but his primarily aircraft was the B-1 Lancer “Bone”. In the B-1, Aaron quickly rose thought the ranks as a copilot, Aircraft Commander, Instructor Pilot, and Flight Evaluator. He deployed 5 times, logged over 500 combat hours and served in various leadership roles including Air Combat Command Chief Evaluator and Squadron Commander. In 2019 he retired as a Lt Colonel with almost 3,000 military flight hours and moved to Kansas City with his wife and 3 boys. He has continued to expand his aviation knowledge, gaining ratings and experience in multiple aircraft including the Pilatus PC-12, Citations, and the Falcon 50/900s. With over 25 years of diverse and challenging flight experience, Aaron now leads our team of aviators as EquityJet’s Chief Pilot.

Dennis Morgan - Director of Maintenance: Dennis comes to EquityJet with an aviation career which has spanned over 40 years in multiple foreign countries, including Germany, Spain, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait .  He started his aviation career in the US Army working on AH-1 Cobras as well as AH-64 Apaches. Following his military service, Dennis entered the civilian aviation world, starting at a MRO in Tennessee performing heavy checks on the Saab 340, 2000, ATR 42, 72 and various other commercial aircraft. He then moved to Colorado where he worked with 135 charter operations on Lears, Hawkers and  King Airs, as well as the CH-47 Chinook in the Colorado National Guard.  Dennis then moved to Mannheim Germany to work as a contractor on US army helicopters including AH-64, UH-60 and CH-47 returning from deployments before he moved to Grossbissendorf, Bavaria to work on the UH-72 Lakota program in Hohenfels JMRC. After moving back to the Kansas City area, Dennis taught A&P at a local technical school before joining EquityJet.

David Scott - Falcon Fleet Captain: David’s flying career began at Central Missouri State University in 1982. After graduating, he flew for Bar Harbor Airlines in Naples Florida and Burlington, Vermont, flying the BE-02 and BE-99. He later moved to Key Airlines, flying as First Officer on a Boeing 727 doing MAC charters and Apple Tour Vacations. In 1990, David was hired at US Airways flying DC-9s, however, his time there was short-lived due to a furlough in 1991. David moved on to Ryan International flying DC-9s and B- 727s where he earned his first type rating and Flight Engineer Certificate in the B-727. and flew as Captain the final three years. He remained there for almost eight years before returning to US Airways in October 1997. Upon his return to US Airways, David flew the B-737, A-320, 321, B-757-767, and received a type rating in each aircraft. One year after September 11, 2001, David was once again furloughed. Shortly thereafter, David was hired by JetBlue Airways where he flew for for 21 years, 19 of which were spent as Captain on the A-320. During David’s 40 year flying career, he has amassed over 22,000 hours of flight time.

Martin W. Berneking - Citation Fleet Captain: Martin’s aviation career has spanned 39 years beginning in 1985. Martin joined the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) in 1982 where during his career, he served for 11 years in the aircraft support unit flying both fixed and rotor wing aircraft. He flew in support of law enforcement missions including aviation support of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) as well as numerous Kansas law enforcement agencies and the American Red Cross.  Upon retiring from the State Patrol, Martin flew for several aviation companies flying the Kingair C90, CRJ 900 and BE40 Beechjet. In 2020, Martin and his wife relocated to the Kansas City area where he continued flying Beechjets until moving to EquityJet in August of 2022 where he flies both the Cessna Citation Ultra and the Dassault Falcon 900. Martin and his wife Jonnie, who is a registered nurse, enjoy traveling and Martin occasionally plays the banjo.

Stephanie DiMartino - Lead Dispatcher: Stephanie grew up near a small airport where she found herself fascinated with everything about the aviation industry. She quickly realized that she wanted to work in aviation, but didn’t know in exactly what capacity. When she was 20 years old, she began working for an airline and loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, the airline went out of business and at that point, Stephanie went from the airlines to corporate aviation. She went to work for a Kansas City FBO where she learned about the inner workings of the private aviation industry. She realized that she particularly enjoyed the “behind the scenes” elements of the operations which is what led her into her role with EquityJet. Stephanie joined EquityJet in 2021 and she now serves as the Lead Scheduler assuring that all logistics regarding client services and operational movements of the entire EquityJet fleet runs smoothly and efficiently.

Kris Rogers - Senior Accountant: Kris is the Senior Accountant of EquityJet Inc. She graduated from the accounting program at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and has over thirty years of experience working in the accounting field. Prior to working as Senior Accountant, she owned an accounting firm where the focus was business accounting.   Her experience working with multiple types of businesses is what makes Kris a great fit for the ever-growing needs of EquityJet clients.