“I see the bigger picture from the air, where there are no boundaries,” he tells me during a morning coffee chat on the penultimate day of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games here.

“I’m used to thinking fast and making decisions quickly.”

While Logan is not particularly rushed for time with four years to go until the Winter Youth Olympic Games, a concept which remains the subject of criticism from members within the International Olympic Committee (IOC), his decision-making will be key as the Swiss city prepares to follow in the footsteps of Lillehammer 2016.

Having over 3,000 hours of flying experience may not provide an example of this to you and me, but the head of the regulatory body of the Swiss military air force, who is fluent in three languages, sees resemblances in the role of pilot and chief executive of an Organising Committee for a major sporting event.

Following his extensive time in the air, he will now be tasked with operating a vehicle of a different kind as he will be a key cog in the Lausanne 2020 machine.

“The athletes are the pilots and the spectators are the spectators - there are a lot of similarities,” he said.

“It’s exactly the same concept - you have athletes flying and you have athletes doing sports.

“There are also a lot of similarities in the management and leadership process and we do these things all of the time.”

Throughout the interview, Logan comes across as a confident and cunning operator, exuding all the traits of someone who has been there, done it and got the tee-shirt. Though taking on the role of chief executive at Lausanne 2020 represents his first venture into the often murky world of organising sporting events, the Swiss has a proven track record in the field having managed the AIR 04 and AIR 14 Swiss National Air Shows.

After last year's Air14 Airshow in Payerne, which attracted 400,000 spectators, the World Air Sports Federation presented Logan with its Diplôme d’Honneur for his "outstanding work" on the event. Lausanne 2020 will be hoping this level of performance from their chief executive continues.

Glancing at his CV makes it easy to understand the reasons behind his appointment, made by Lausanne 2020 President Patrick Baumann, the Swiss IOC member who is also the secretary general of the International Basketball Federation. Logan was chosen from a list of 56 candidates and it will be he who is most heavily involved in the day-to-day operations for the third edition of the Winter Youth Olympics.

His passion for the project is evident. “It will be a new start for the Youth Games,” Logan said.

“This is where it starts. Come to Lausanne, you’ll see it will be amazing.

“We will surprise everyone, I am convinced about that. Imagine the atmosphere, all the staff of the Federations and the IOC who are based in Lausanne - they will have emotion here and will say it is their Games. It will be something magic.”

As with any similar sporting event, Logan is fully aware that there will be challenges that lie ahead on the path to the event in 2020; some will be clear already, while others will rear their ugly head at the most inconvenient time. He feels that the main hurdle he and his team must clear if they are to stage the Games in the way that he has promised will be removing the negative stigma around the concept of the Winter Youth Olympic Games as a whole. It won’t be easy.

Discussions took place last year within the IOC where the possibility of scrapping the Youth Olympic Games – both Summer and Winter – was seriously considered, as several members have criticised the event with open hostility, claiming it drains their resources and simply costs far too much.

“We have to show that it is not only worth doing but we have to kill the rumours that Lausanne will be the last one,” Logan said.

“The IOC will be convinced before the Games even arrive that they are worth keeping.

“The three words from Agenda 2020 were credibility, sustainability and youth so how can you say, with this success the Games have had, that you will stop the Youth Games?”

The suggestion from the IOC electorate about costs can be largely quashed when taking a look at Lausanne 2020’s proposal, with the use of existing sporting infrastructure - all of which is within an hour’s drive of the city itself - a prominent part of their plans, while they have also been boosted by the construction of a brand-new facility which will now be used as the Athletes’ Village (it was getting built regardless of whether they were successful in their bid or not).

Their budget currently stands at $42 million (£29 million/€38 million) - a fairly miserly amount when compared with that of the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, though of course the Summer version tends to harbour higher costs for the simple reason that more sports take place and more athletes take part.

A large focus of Lausanne's plans focus on the supposed compactness of the venues, with three proposed competition areas serving as the main hubs of the Games.

The brand-new ice-rink, which will stage ice hockey, curling, short track speed skating and speed skating and is set to be one of the centrepieces at Lausanne 2020, was also in the offing before the Swiss city secured the rights to the Winter Youth Olympic Games with a 71-10 victory over Romanian rival Brașov at last year’s IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur.

“The concept that we have is good but we will continue to listen and develop our ideas,” Logan said.

“I don’t see many logistical issues in Switzerland - the bidding concept was amazing and a lot of things have been thought of already.

“I just don’t see big issues with transportation as our network is fantastic.

“The venue sites are good and Lausanne and the surrounding area is great so we are confident we will be able to fulfil the requirements.”

While the word "optimism" appears regularly in Logan’s lexicon, he accepts that the next four years, including the Games themselves, will be far from plain sailing. Among the key issues, aside from the apparent IOC apathy towards the Youth Olympics, is getting Switzerland fully behind the event.

The fact that sports such as Nordic combined, ski jumping and cross-country  will be held at the Tuffes Nordic Stadium, located across the border in France also raises the possibility of logistical issues, particularly if cooperation with the relevant French Ministries hits a stumbling block.

“The venues are all 45 minutes to an hour away from each other,” Logan said.

“Yes it is in France but it is next door - they are very motivated, we have had fantastic coordination with them and they are very enthusiastic.”

So what next for Lausanne 2020? Well, the first marker in the premature stages of their preparations comes with a presentation in front of the IOC in April, who will outline what they expect of the Organising Committee over the next months or so.

Then there’s the small matter of deciding which sports get the nod for the programme - a hot topic during my chat with the Swiss as we gazed out the window at the snow which enveloping Lillehammer.

Logan revealed that bobsleigh, which many of us would consider as a core Winter Olympic sport, “was not in their initial plans”, largely due to the 430 kilometres distance between Lausanne and the nearest track in St Moritz, but that discussions with the sport’s governing body were ongoing in a bid to reach a suitable solution for all concerned parties.

An artificial track could be a remedy, though Lausanne 2020 would be forgiven for being put off by the prospect of constructing a brand-new facility, which would more than likely come at a considerable cost. It might not also be the first choice of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, either.

Here at Lillehammer 2016, which the Swiss says they have “learned a lot from”, several new disciplines made their Winter Youth Olympic debut, such as cross-country cross and monobob, have been widely heralded by organisers, IOC members and athletes alike. It definitely gave the next host city food for thought.

“We are opening to anything and we are ready to listen,” said Logan.

“I’m not saying we will because we have to have discussions with the Federations and the IOC but we would love to add new sports.”

His enthusiasm for Lausanne, the Winter Youth Olympic Games and life as a whole is palpable. If this can be translated into tangible success, expect the city to be flying high four years from now.