MARPA Says Goodbye to Ahmad Zamany

The aviation community suffered an unspeakable loss this week when we learned that our friend Ahmad Zamany, Vice President of Technical Operations at Copa Airlines, unexpectedly passed away. MARPA is deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and our thoughts go out to Ahmad’s family, friends and colleagues.

Ahmad had a long history in aviation dating back to 1985, and for the last 9 years had worked at Copa Airlines helping to improve and advance Copa’s maintenance, engineering, and purchasing practices in a continuous effort to improve safety. In the process Ahmad helped introduce solutions the helped Copa Airlines become a leader among Latin American air carriers and respected around the world.

Attendees of past MARPA conferences and other industry events will no doubt remember Ahmad as a vocal advocate in support of the PMA industry and its benefits in safety, cost, and reliability. Ahmad twice gave inspiring keynote addresses at the MARPA conference and gave the industry insights into how PMA can help improve the safety and performance of airline fleets.  But more than Ahmad’s support of MARPA, people will remember his infectious personality, huge smile, and friendly, inviting demeanor. Ahmad was always happy to discuss aviation, golf (and the important Copa Tech Ops charity golf tournament he coordinated), and his family.

Having had the opportunity to spend time with Ahmad at various events over the years, I personally feel lucky to have considered Ahmad a friend. And though I did not know him as well as his colleagues or family, I can say definitively that my life—and the lives of so many others—was made better for having Ahmad in it.  Even if Ahmad had never been such a positive supporter of MARPA and its mission, he still would have been working tirelessly to ensure the safety of Copa’s passengers, and to improve the lives of so many in his community. Ahmad Reza Zamany is gone far too soon, and he will be dearly, dearly missed.