At the recent Chamber of Commerce 14th Annual Aviation Summit, the nonprofit coalition, Americans for Fair Skies, highlighted the subsidies by the United Arab Emirates to its national airline, Etihad Airways. The CEO of Etihad, James Hogan (Shown at right), spoke to the summit and had an opportunity to directly address the subsidies, but instead […]
District of Columbia
U.S. Chamber Holds Annual Aviation Summit
(Photo – Participating in a panel discussion on ATC are from left, Ed Bolen, NBAA, Eamonn Brennan, Ireland Aviation Authority, John Crichton, NAV Canada and Jeff Smisek, United Airlines. Robert Crandall was moderator. Photo by Kim Stevens.) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation held its 14th Annual Aviation Summit – Flight Path 2015, The Future […]
Strickler Award Presented to Husband Wife Team at Aero Club of Washington
The National Coalition for Aviation and Space Education (NCASE) presented the Mervin K. Strickler Aerospace Education Award to James (Jim) and Angela Thompson on Thursday of last week during the monthly luncheon of the Aero Club of Washington. The award, presented by Rol Murrow, Vice President of NCASE, was in recognition of the husband and […]
DOT and FAA Propose New Rules for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems
The Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration today proposed a framework of regulations that would allow routine use of certain small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in today’s aviation system, while maintaining flexibility to accommodate future technological innovations. The FAA proposal offers safety rules for small UAS (under 55 pounds) conducting non-recreational operations. The rule would […]
NASAO Teams with GA Partners on Release of New Economic Impact Study
The National Association of State Aviation Officials, (NASAO) teamed with seven other general aviation associations and released a new industry-wide study detailing the economic contributions of general aviation (GA) to the U.S. economy. The study indicates that GA supports 1.1 million total jobs and supplies $219 billion in total economic output. “When state leaders work […]
FAA Names Wei as Deputy Director Airport Planning and Programming
Victoria Wei has been named the FAA’s new Deputy Director of the Office of Airport Planning and Programming in Washington DC. Wei, who currently serves as the Director, NextGen Performance and Outreach, has over 18 years of experience in the transportation and aviation sectors, including serving as an attorney with DOT and FAA, as well […]
New TRB Executive Director Appointed
Neil J. Pedersen has been selected as the next Executive Director of the Transportation Research Board, effective February 1, 2015. Pedersen’s appointment follows a national search in which the search committee interviewed a number of extraordinary candidates. Pedersen joined the Academies in 2012 as the Deputy Director of the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP […]
NextGen Upgrade Announced for Washington Airspace
Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced that the Washington, D.C. Metroplex is the first in the nation to have three, state-of-the-art, satellite-based highways in the sky running side by side by side, each dedicated to one of the three major airports in the region. “The […]
Principato Selected to Lead NASAO
The National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) announced today that Greg Principato has been named President and CEO of the 83 year-old organization based in the Washington D.C. Principato, who most recently served as President and CEO of ACI-NA from 2005-2013, was a Trade and Transportation Specialist at Hunton & Williams from 1991-2005 and […]
FAA Faces $5 Billion Deficit in Next Decade
Rich Swayze, FAA’s Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs and Environment told the NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC) this week that the FAA has no choice but to cut the services it provides or raise more money over the next decade. Before joining the FAA earlier this year, Swayze (shown at right) was a top aviation […]



