Executive Team

Ted Vallas	Founder, Chairman of the Board Ted Vallas has been a businessman and entrepreneur in North County San Diego for over 60 years. He has developed and managed over 40 businesses ranging from the construction of golf courses around the world to building and running resorts. Ted was the co-founder and President of General Design and Instrumentation Company (Scanivalve), a wind tunnel and instrumentation company. In the 1970’s, Ted formed a regional airline called Air Resorts which ran for 17 years. They operated out of Lindbergh Airport serving Burbank, Phoenix, Tucson and other point-to-point destinations. Ted also provided charter service as well as support to a number of government programs. During this time, he formed the Super 580 Aircraft Company, which was created to reconfigure and increase the seating capacity of the Convair 580. Ted holds a B.A. degree from Balboa University and an MBA from Cal Western University
Bud Sittig	President, Chief Operation Officer Lawrence "Bud" Sittig has over 40 years experience in the aviation industry. He began his career serving in the Air National Guard and retired with the rank of Brigadier General from the Colorado Air National Guard. While in the Reserves, Bud joined Delta Airlines as a line pilot, served as both Executive Administrator for the Air Line Pilots Association and General Manager of Flight Operations, and concluded his work at Delta as Director of Flight Safety. In 2004 Bud was hired as Vice President of Operations for Skybus, a start-up airline out of Columbus Ohio. He was actively involved in the FAA certification process, raising $166 million in equity, and managed the day-to-day operations of the airline. In 2008, he founded Flight Guidance LLC, a company that is leading the move to a paperless approach to airline operations. Bud is a native of South Dakota, a graduate of South Dakota State, and a Fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Steve Lupinacci	Chief Financial Officer A CPA by training, Steve served as a Partner in the international accounting firm Price Waterhouse during the first part of his career. His focus was strategic planning and structuring client mergers, acquisitions and other transactions for optimum tax and financial benefit. Since 1990, Steve has worked with many early stage ventures, in both passive-investor and active CEO/CFO roles, leading two to successful Initial Public Offerings on the NASDAQ. Steve continues to serve as a consultant or member of the Board of Directors for a number of growth stage companies in industries such as ecommerce, foodservice, software, telecommunications, real estate and manufacturing. Steve has a BS in Accounting from Lehigh University and lives in Southern California, where he used to play golf.
Jim Buntz	Senior Vice President, Business Development In 1968, Jim began a 40-year career in the Telecommunications industry in Omaha, Nebraska, with Northwestern Bell. In 1981 he ventured to Southern California with Pacific Bell before retiring from the Bell System in 1993. He held executive positions in operations, sales and marketing. In 1994 Jim began the first of several opportunities with start-up Telcos as General Manager. Time Warner Telecom in Indianapolis, XO Communications in Santa Ana, ISG and Telepacific in San Diego. Jim has a B.A. degree from Nebraska in Economics and a MBA degree from Creighton University.
John Ross	Senior Vice President, Operations John Ross is a 32-year veteran in the airline industry, having served as a line Captain and in key operations and management positions at three major airlines. As a Naval Aviator, John served in an A-7E Attack Squadron, instructor, test pilot, and Landing Signal Officer, accumulating over 300 carrier landings. He joined US Air where he spent 24 years flying six aircraft types, and served in many management positions including Check Airman, Senior Check Airman, Manager of Flight Training, F100 Fleet Captain, and 737 Fleet Captain. Under his supervision, the 737-300/400 Fleet was the first transitioned into the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP), and received the FAA commitment to Advanced Aviation Safety Award in recognition of its excellence. In 2005 he joined JetBlue where he served as an E190 Instructor, Manager of AQP, Director of Flight Safety, Vice President of Flight Operations, and Vice President System Operations. After retiring from JetBlue, he was a founder of OK3Group, dedicated to the highest levels of safety through risk management and integrated processes.