Patient AirLift Services maintains a coordination center to connect people to pilots and oversee the missions. Our staff is dedicated to the PALS mission and always strives to provide every passenger with the absolute best service and experience.
Chairman of the Board, PALS
Jim Platz is Chairman of the Board of Directors and has served as a member of the board since the inception of Patient Airlift Services. Jim
works as a structural and civil engineer involved in real estate development. He was a director of Androscoggin Bank and the chairman of Head Invest investment management until retiring last year. Jim has devoted much of his time to helping non-profit charities and has extensive experience in public outreach and fundraising. He has had previous directorship roles with St. Mary’s Healthcare, Growing Through Adoption, Auburn-Lewiston YMCA and Hebron Academy. Jim has over 17 years’ experience as a volunteer pilot and has flown more than 4000 missions and logged over 7000 hours of volunteer flying time. In addition to his dedicated service to Patient Airlift Services, Jim has flown volunteer hours for Air Life Line, Northern Wings, Angel Flight NE, Make A Wish Foundation, New England Aquarium and the Maine Audubon Society. When speaking of his experiences with Patient Airlift Services, Jim says “I am continually amazed by the courage, determination, faith, and positive attitudes that our patients show in the face of challenging situations. It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of these people’s lives.” Jim and his wife Candace live in Auburn, Maine and have two daughters. Jim’s recreational interests include underwater photography, backpacking, bicycling and kayaking.
Secretary, PALS
Jeff Radtke is the Secretary of Patient Airlift Services and serves on the Executive Committee. Jeff has served on the Board of Directors since 2016. Over a twenty-five year span, Jeff worked for numerous investments banks specializing in program trading and algorithmic trading. Jeff is a single-engine instrument rated pilot. He has been flying volunteer missions for seven years. “Some 400 years before the Wright brother’s first flight, Leonardo Da Vinci best described the bug of flying for me.” “When once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” Leonardo da Vinci When speaking of his work with Patient Airlift Services, Jeff says: “It is my privilege to volunteer and be a member of the PALS team. PALS has taught me that at life’s most fragile moments giving a helping hand is such a powerful healing tool.” Jeff lives in Norwalk, Connecticut with his wife Karolina and four children.
President, PALS
Joe Howley has served as President of the Board of Directors at Patient
Airlift Services since 2014 and previously served as Chairman of the Board from 2010-2014. He is a longtime commodity trader, and currently works as the Senior Managing Director at Freepoint Commodities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. Joe has been volunteer flying for over 20 years and has devoted extraordinary amounts of energy to public outreach and hosted fundraising events. He has made numerous appearances on PALS behalf to business groups, local organizations, and media outlets. He is the past President of the Pilatus Owners and Pilots Association. As the founding Chairman, Joe was instrumental in the origination of PALS and is a superlative role model to other PALS pilots, having flown over 1,000 PALS passenger missions. When asked about his participation in PALS, Joe says unequivocally; “There is no other volunteer pilot organization that can match our transparency, efficacy, and passion to help those in need. Our superb pilots and staff are second to none.” Joe and his wife Christine have been married over thirty years and have three grown children. His interests are flying, most sports and he is conversational in Spanish and French.
Executive Committee Member
Scott E. Ashton is the President and CEO of Aerox Aviation Oxygen Systems, in Bonita Springs, FL, and is an aerospace industry executive with more than 25 years of industry experience working for such leading companies as Sikorsky, General Electric, and Goodrich, and has extensive experience operating FAA Part 145 and Part 135 certificated businesses.
Scott is a member of the Board of Patient Airlift Services and serves on the Executive Committee and Pilot and Safety Committee. He has been involved with PALS since 2015 and has helped foster the PALS relationship with the business aviation and New York helicopter communities. He is an ATP-rated pilot, and has single-engine land and sea, multi-engine, glider, and helicopter ratings. Scott is also a CFI Part 107 drone pilot.
He has contributed to PALS in the areas of public outreach, fundraising and as an active volunteer pilot. He has been quoted in Chief Executive magazine about being a PALS volunteer and has developed corporate relationships to support the efforts of PALS. He is an ardent aviation advocate and had served on the boards of several aviation advocacy groups, including the Eastern Region Helicopter Council and CT Business Aviation Group, where he has advocated to preserve airport and airspace access.
When speaking of his work with PALS, Scott states, “I’m so incredibly proud to be a part of PALS and humbled by the contributions of the Aviation community to make others’ lives better. Aviation has a capacity to bring so much to people’s lives – especially when they are most in need, and the volunteers and staff at PALS live that every day.” Scott is married to Sarah and they have two daughters and a son, and they reside in Farmington, CT and Naples, FL. His recreational interests include serving as Board President of the New England Air Museum, glider flying, trap shooting, fly fishing, and boating.
Vice Chairman, PALS
John Rochelle is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Patient Airlift Services since its inception and acts as a superlative model of leadership. John is a retired Custom Building Contractor, both commercial and residential, and specialized in large custom residential building projects. John has substantial experience in governance of charitable organizations and has performed public outreach and fundraising. Among his many accomplishments, John has served on the boards of volunteer pilot organizations, numerous builders associations and artistic and religious foundations. John estimates that he has flown over 330 flight missions and approximately 3000 hours of flying for volunteer pilot organizations. Regarding his leadership and flying efforts on behalf of PALS John states, “Family aside, this is the best thing I’ve done in my life.” John lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Diane and has a daughter, a son, three grandsons and one granddaughter.
Alan Sheiness is a member of the Board of Patient Airlift Services and serves on the Executive Committee. He has been on the Board of Directors since the inception of PALS, and served as Chairman of the Board from 2014 to 2018. He worked at ADP from 1984 through his retirement in 2015 as its corporate controller and principal accounting officer. He is a certified public accountant in New York State. Alan is a commercial pilot with single-engine and multi-engine ratings. He has contributed to PALS in the areas of public outreach, fundraising and as an active volunteer pilot. He has flown over 600 hours as part of volunteer pilot organizations. He has diligently worked on obtaining corporate sponsorships to support the efforts of PALS. His efforts and flying achievements have been featured in Southwest Aviators Magazine. When speaking of his work with PALS, Alan states, “It is simply a great joy to do what we do. Having helped make this possible on the scale of hundreds of volunteer pilots being able to contribute is an incredible source of pride.” Alan is married to Jeanne and they have two daughters and a son. His recreational interests include electric guitar, woodworking, foreign languages, astronomy and astrophotography.
Jim McCloud is the Executive Vice President of National Client Partnerships at Entercom Communications, a leading media and entertainment company and the #1 creator of live, original, local audio content reaching over 170 million people each month across multiple platforms. In this role, McCloud oversees the national client partnership sales effort for Entercom that focuses on strategic partnerships across all of Entercom’s assets, including sports, news, music, events, Radio.com, Pineapple Street Media, Cadence 13, and more. McCloud was brought on board post merger with CBS Radio to help leverage the new found scale that Entercom was afforded in the acquisition. In addition, McCloud sits on the Operating Committee for the company and is responsible for raising the overall profile of Entercom amongst key clients.
Prior to joining Entercom, McCloud spent nine years at Major League Baseball (MLB) and most recently was Group Director & Vice President of Sponsorship Sales & Client Services. In this role, McCloud led corporate sponsorship sales for MLB that focused on league partnerships across all MLB platforms including Jewel Events like the All-Star Game and Postseason, MLB.com, MLB Network and all 30 Clubs.
Previously, McCloud was the Vice President of Sponsorship Sales for MLB Advanced Media, the league’s digital arm, where he managed advertising, sponsorship sales and strategy for the Midwest region of MLB.com, including managing relationships with front office executives at various clubs. He joined the company in 2008 as an Account Executive in the sponsorship division. Prior to MLB, McCloud worked on
the sales staff at CBS Sports and started his career as an intern with Athletes First, a full-service agency for professional athletes.
Currently, McCloud serves on various boards including Patient Airlift Services, Golf Fights Cancer and the Holy Cross Diamond Club. McCloud has an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, a Masters in Sports Management from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross, where he was a member of the Holy Cross varsity baseball team.
Brian Lisoski is a member of the board of directors at PALS and has been an active volunteer since the inception of PALS. He is an independent commodity trader based in West Palm Beach, FL. He is currently involved with pilot recruitment, fundraising and outreach. He is a member of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Brian estimates that he has flown 1500 hours since he became a pilot in 2007. He flies missions for PALS at least monthly as either primary pilot or copilot.
He contributes large amounts of time and effort into outreach, fundraising and raising awareness of PALS services to the public and healthcare professionals. When asked why he volunteers his time at PALS, Brian says “I love to fly and If I can help someone along the way, it just makes my day better.” Brian Lives in West Palm Beach, FL and enjoys all types of sports, especially trap and skeet shooting with a variety of clubs.
Director Emeritus, PALS
In Memoriam
Director Emeritus, PALS
In Memoriam
William Weaver was a member of the Board of Directors at Patient Airlift Services since 2014. He was the previous owner of Million Air White Plains, which is a fixed base operator at Westchester County Airport in White Plains New York. He brought over forty years of expertise in the Aviation industry, and over eighteen years of experience in local government to PALS. William also volunteered his time with other boards and organizations. When he spoke of his involvement with Patient Airlift Services, William said, “it’s all about helping people in need. I get great pleasure knowing that PALS is there when it counts.” He lived in Armonk, New York with his wife Susan and had 3 boys. In his spare time he was an avid golfer, and volunteer.
Director Emeritus, PALS
In Memoriam
Ruthanne Ruzika was a member of the Board of Directors at Patient Airlift Services. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Marketing and has worked at C.F. Rutherford and Associates as a Vice President of Sales in furniture distribution. She volunteers her creative skills at various non-profit organizations including Parent Teacher Associations and the YMCA. She is extremely successful in fundraising endeavors and outreach and has run gala events, outings and marketed charitable products. Ruthanne brought to the PALS Board her unique communication and marketing skills with an extraordinarily successful track record. She has an enormous passion for helping those in need. When asked about her work with Patient Airlift Services, Ruthanne states “I find working with PALS one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime. I’m lucky to be part of such a giving team.” Ruthanne spends her leisure time boating, skiing and playing golf and tennis
