Afterburner Names Tropic Ocean Airways Founder Rob Ceravolo as CEO

Afterburner has appointed Rob "Rocko" Ceravolo, founder of Tropic Ocean Airways, as its chief executive officer, effective August 24, 2026. The appointment coincides with the company's 30th anniversary.

Ceravolo is a former U.S. Navy fighter aviator and TOPGUN graduate who served 14 years in the Navy, flying the F-14D, F/A-18E and F-5N in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He founded Fort Lauderdale-based Tropic Ocean Airways in 2009 with one aircraft and one employee, building it into what Afterburner describes as the world's largest amphibious airline. The airline earned Commuter Authority from the U.S. Department of Transportation and developed scheduled and charter passenger and cargo operations serving Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Among notable milestones, Ceravolo led humanitarian operations following Hurricane Dorian, during which the airline evacuated more than 900 people and transported 200,000 pounds of aid over a 10-day period.

Ceravolo succeeds founder James D. "Murph" Murphy, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who established Afterburner in 1996 around a management methodology called Flawless Execution, which adapts fighter squadron practices — planning, briefing, execution and debriefing — for corporate teams. The company says that methodology has reached 2.2 million leaders at more than 3,500 organizations, including 85% of the Fortune 500. Afterburner is 100% veteran-owned. Murphy, author of the book "Flawless Execution," will remain on the company's Board of Directors and return to delivering keynote presentations under the Afterburner brand.

Leadership transitions like this one illustrate a recurring path in aviation-adjacent business: an operator who built and ran a niche commercial airline moves into a role applying operational discipline to broader corporate audiences. Ceravolo's background running scheduled and charter operations, along with coordinating a large-scale humanitarian airlift after Hurricane Dorian, gives him direct experience in time-critical logistics and crisis response that maps onto Afterburner's training methodology.

How Tropic Ocean Airways itself is managed going forward, and whether Ceravolo retains any operational role there, is not addressed. Murphy's continued board presence and keynote work suggest continuity in the company's messaging even as day-to-day leadership changes.

What happens next at Tropic Ocean Airways under new or continued leadership, and how Ceravolo balances any residual ties to the airline with his new corporate role, remain open questions worth tracking.