Sam Thornton is a founding partner of Automatic. He handles deal origination, marketing and technical management of the portfolio. Having entered the aviation industry in 1988 he has held various commercial airline and aircraft leasing company positions and has sold or leased numerous commercial aircraft and engines.

Sam is married with two sons and resides in Lake Mary, Florida.

Jim Wifler joined automatic in June of 2007 and is responsible for North American marketing activities including the sourcing and evaluation of aircraft transactions. Previously he worked for FINOVA Capital Corporation and its parent company for twenty-two years. In his final position as Senior Vice President of FINOVA’s Transportation Group, he was responsible for the management and liquidation of FINOVA’s loan and lease portfolio consisting of over 100 aircraft and spare engines. As a Vice President of Marketing in FINOVA’s Transportation Group, originated over $1.0 billion of commercial aircraft loans and operating leases. Mr. Wifler received a BA in Accounting from Arizona State University and was previously a Certified Public Accountant.