David Schuster Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Meridian, the full-service private aviation company based in Teterboro, NJ, is proud to announce that David Schuster has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Teterboro Chapter of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA). Schuster is a Quality Assurance Inspector with Meridian Jet Center, the company’s aircraft maintenance business.  He joins a short list of distinguished recipients who have received this honor.

Ed Furst, President of the PAMA Teterboro Chapter, presented the prestigious award to Mr. Schuster in front of a large audience attending the 25^th Annual PAMA Holiday Party.  The evening gala was held on Friday, January 16, 2015 at The Graycliff, an elegant banquet facility near Teterboro Airport in Moonachie, NJ.  The award was in recognition of David’s continuous support of the PAMA Teterboro Chapter, the aviation community, and his fellow chapter members.

Dave’s experience in aviation is quite impressive, accomplishing many milestones over the course of his career.  While still in high school, Dave enlisted in the US Air Force and became a Crew Chief on a KC-135 Stratotanker, a military aerial refueling aircraft.  At the conclusion of the Vietnam War, he found himself maintaining military aircraft in remote areas across the Pacific and in Europe, supporting new peace-time activities.  Several years later he was assigned to remote duty at Shemya AFB in the Aleutian Islands, maintaining a RC-135S “Cobra Ball”, an aircraft specially designed to observe ballistic missile flights at long range.  These assignments were truly the foundation for his career as an Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT).

Upon discharge from the military, Dave attended Teterboro School of Aeronautics and graduated in 1980 with an FAA Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) license. He was able to obtain a position with Eastern Airlines at its major overhaul facility in Miami. Soon afterwards, Dave was hired by Becton Dickinson’s Corporate Flight Department at Teterboro Airport and eventually became the Manager of Maintenance. 

During his 32-year career with Becton Dickinson, Dave was mostly responsible for maintaining the company’s fleet of aircraft all around the world. In 2014, he began a new chapter in his career when he joined Meridian Jet Center as a Quality Assurance Inspector.

Schuster is a graduate of Thomas Edison State College. He has spent many years as a Trustee with the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum. Dave currently volunteers as a member of the Teterboro School of Aeronautics Advisory Board and he is a commercially rated multi-engine pilot.