Executive Watch - Dror Yahav, CEO of Universal Avionics

Posted 18 hours ago ago by Admin

Dror Yahav is a former fighter pilot, a “fighter jock,” which is not exactly fertile ground for an innovative executive who is pioneering state-of-the-art avionics for helicopters. Yet, the current CEO of Universal Avionics had a life-changing observation while later flying in a field that has been aggressively recruiting talent and skill away from helicopters—the airline sector. Again, not exactly where one looks for people to add to the rotorcraft industry. How Yahav came to contribute to the rotorcraft industry is a life story that begins in his boyhood…

Flightpath

Yahav’s mother is a renowned sand artist, but her boy grew up wanting to be like his dad. Yahav recalls, “He was a fighter pilot and that’s all I ever cared about was wanting to be like him.” (After Yahav realized his boyhood dream, he actually got to co-pilot with his father, who flew in his Phantom backseat. After completing seven years of service to his nation, Yahav took a domestic flight path to captain a regional airliner for income. “I needed to provide for my family because I got married early.” (The marriage has been successful. Dr. Michal Yahav currently develops drugs for psychiatric conditions. The couple has three children: their oldest daughter has her master’s degree in chemistry, their middle daughter is a college freshman in Arizona, and their son is in high school.)

Realization

While he flew as an airline pilot, Yahav studied for his bachelor’s in computer science that he earned in 2002 from Tel Aviv University, where later in his career he earned an executive MBA. This education empowered Yahav to act on that aforementioned life-changing realization he had as an airliner pilot. “Flying for the military is one thing, but flying for an airline gives you a different perspective, and that is really what changed my life because I realized that airline technology was so very basic compared to military avionics.”

Winning Streak

That realization began to propel Yahav’s career when he left the airline to work in research and development for Elbit Systems, a global defense technology company. He focused on how to bring advanced military avionics to the civilian cockpit. “I wanted commercial pilots to have the ability to look all over the place and get information. When they were flying at night, I wanted them to feel like they were flying in the daytime and handle severe weather conditions with better tools. We started to win commercial contract after contract after contract,” he said.

Elbit System’s leadership noticed Yahav’s winning streak. He was promoted in 2011 to senior director of advanced vision systems for commercial aviation, then in 2013, to vice president of Commercial Aviation. In 2018, Elbit Systems acquired Universal Avionics in the United States to help expand Elbit’s aviation business to the large U.S. market as a domestic company.

Also, Universal Avionics supplemented Elbit Systems product portfolio. Yahav said, “The one I had created at Elbit was super new, super innovative and super exciting, but it lacked fundamentals such as a flight management and a cockpit display system. When we married Universal’s products to Elbit’s, it started to be extremely interesting and beneficial.”

A year after Elbit Systems acquired Universal Avionics, Yahav was promoted to his current position as CEO of Universal Avionics, which is based in Tucson, Arizona.

‘Now, it Exists’

It’s one thing to develop exciting and innovative products (Yahav has multiple patents) but it is another thing entirely to get those products certified by government aviation regulators. Yahav said, “Obtaining aviation certification is often harder than innovating the new product itself; it’s not enough that the product works, but it must work safely.

I’m very proud that we were the first to certify things that were never in the industry before. Every time we get something certified, I feel like we make a difference. It wasn’t there before us, but now it exists.” The first certification Yahav and his team did was a dual head-up display with a multi-spectral combined vision system all the way down to the ground for the Falcon jet. They also certified in Europe a head-wearable display and they’ve also certified with the FAA other displays for jets that give a 50% visual advantage. “I just read where aircraft flying passengers with our systems were able to safely land in adverse conditions when others couldn’t,” he said.

Help for Helicopters

With many successful certifications for fixed-wing avionics achieved, the CEO sees a dearth of avionics in the rotorcraft sector. “I have some experience flying helicopters, but what is shocking about flying them is the gap between the importance and complexity of the missions they fly and the lack of equipment on board,” he said. “A private business jet, which basically transports people from Point A to Point B, is often equipped with the latest and greatest technology, but helicopters, which save lives by flying EMS, law enforcement, and a wide range of important missions at all hours—often at low altitudes and in low visibility—have little technology compared to a business jet. This gap really shocked me when we started to look at the market.”

With this stark realization, Universal Avionics is currently in the certification process for new avionics to help helicopters. There are two active certification programs in Europe for two flagship platforms, all are expected to be certified in the coming months.

While we cannot presently publish these ongoing certification programs, Universal Avionics has a proven track record of successfully developing products for helicopters and their pilots. These include its NexGen, software-based interactive Flight Management System (i-FMS), its EVS4000 multispectral Enhanced Vision cameras, the ClearVision™ Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS) suite for helicopters, and their SkyVis Helmet Mounted Display (HMD).

Innovate!

Developing and certifying advanced avionics like these does not come without embracing innovation. Yahav said, “It’s a very hard road to be an innovator because you will fail a lot and it’s going to be painful—but it’s very exciting if you do it right because you make a difference. I’m not afraid to make mistakes and I think that’s in my DNA… I was lucky to have empowering managers who allowed me to try and fail, even more than I think I allow people to try and fail today. They were inspiring people.” One such leader he specifically credits is Yoram Shmuely. Yahav said, “He has always been a mentor and was willing to accept my mistakes.”

Of course, mistakes often come with costs. How did Yahav cope with those costs? He answers, “I could say some of my failures cost [Elbit] a lot of money, but I would rephrase it differently; some of my decisions caused us to invest money that we were not intending to invest. Looking back, taking those risks to do something new created a great product line that made us more money than we ever would have made by playing it safe. It was worth it because now we have a very viable and successful business.”

Top Four

One way to not have a successful business is to get complacent. The CEO is determined to keep Universal Avionics from lazing on its laurels. (Yahav calls himself a “lazy ass” just because he’s reduced his early morning runs to seven miles/five days a week.) The man is definitely driven and is currently communicating his expectations to Universal Avionics’ teams. Yahav’s top four are:

1. Resilience—"Each time you fail, you need to stand back up and try again. Innovation is not for those who have a weak spirit.”
2. A yes-I-can mentality— “Don’t tell me why it can’t be done, but tell me how you can make it happen.”
3. Innovate in everything you do— “Have a creative mindset in all things—don’t just wait to decide to be creative.”
4. Excellence— "Don’t settle for mediocrity in yourself or others.”

Yahav hasn’t settled for an ordinary career or life.

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Executive Watch - Dror Yahav, CEO of Universal Avionics