Worldwide Customer Service & Service Center Network
Dassault Aviation
This is a story for every reader, but I especially want it to be for young people considering an aviation career. Because, as Yann Boyer will tell you, it can take you amazing places—quite literally. And also because we are always eager to promote talent like Yann’s.
Yann received a Baccalauréat degree in aeronautics. But he would be the first to say he had no practical experience when he was engaged on a contract basis at Dassault Falcon Service (DFS) at Le Bourget. This was 2006, and he was 19 years old. DFS seems to have reinforced his passion for aviation, and for Falcons in particular. This is not an uncommon story within our worldwide Customer Service organization, where we select for both expertise and passion. And also for a bit of an adventurous spirit to help us expand in new regions.
The older hands in the hangar quickly identified Yann as a motivated and diligent type. He arrived early, stayed late, and showed up on weekends. Why? “I wanted to help deliver a customer’s aircraft,” he said.
He was hired full-time after his first week. Within two years he was a key member on Go Teams dispatched all over the world.
As the Russian market started to boom (this seems long ago, but it was only back in 2011), he was a natural to dispatch to Moscow as a line station engineer. Pretty soon almost every customer operating a Falcon in Russia knew Yann, in part because he helped deliver most of our new aircraft into the country. He inspired confidence in these new operators and built trust—we work hard to build one-to-one rapport with our operators worldwide, and people like Yann are critical in this process.
Being a line service engineer in Russia was by no means a cushy job. Yann was based at Vnukovo, where Dassault had no hangar (though space could be rented from time to time at considerable expense). He also serviced planes at Moscow’s other airports, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo. A simple tire change—in winter—was a test of fortitude. Yann would dash into a warm aircraft cabin every few minutes to ward off frostbite, but get the job done.
After seven years of settling into Moscow with a growing family, Yann accepted a position as a coordinator at the Falcon Command Center in Teterboro. After working on frigid Russian ramps, an office job wasn’t unwelcome; more importantly, it fulfilled a long-held dream of living in America.
Yann, his resilient wife, Maguy, and their two children (now three) made a relatively easy transition from Russia to the United States. Yann enjoyed the rapid-fire problem solving of the Command Center. But after three years found himself missing face-to-face customer contact.
He became a tech rep for Falcon 7X and 8X owners in the northeast region, from New York to Canada. For many customers there, he was the face of Falcon Customer Service.
In fact, Yann’s customer coordination skills proved so good, he has moved once again—this time to the southeast U.S.—this time as acting supervisor of our Command Center based in Melbourne, Florida.
Yann, who is now among our most experienced service employees, is only 38, and he wouldn’t surprise me by looking for the next frontier in Falcon service. I asked him if he had a formula for success. “Passion, attention to customer satisfaction, and dedication to family,” he tells me.
Words to live by.
Senior Vice President, Worldwide Falcon Customer Service & Service Center Network
Dassault Aviation
