![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Vic-Bird-edit.jpg\")
ATS Vice President\/Chief Executive Officer Vince Howie said\nhe\u2019s been impressed with Bird\u2019s significant leadership and management talents\never since the pair were matched through Tinker Air Force Base\u2019s Honorary\nCommanders program more than 20 years ago \u2013 the community outreach and\ninteraction program pairs state, legislative and civic trailblazers with key\nTinker AFB senior staff for a period of one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are delighted to have someone of Vic Bird\u2019s caliber on\nour team,\u201d Howie said. \u201cHe\u2019s an aerospace-policymaking and regional-funding\nairport expert who will help manage ATS as we advance into our next level of\nexcellence. Vic has 36 years of distinguished public service with the state of\nOklahoma, with his last 18 years serving as the director of the OAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVic Bird is the first and only Oklahoman to serve as\nchairman of the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in its\n90-year history, and is the only non-elected public official to receive the\nAircraft Owners & Pilots Association\u2019s most prestigious award, the\nHartranft Award.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/vic_vince_aberdeen.jpg\")
He said Bird also received the General Thomas P. Stafford\nAward from Oklahoma\u2019s aerospace industry for his outstanding contributions to\nthe industry in 2009. In 2018, NASAO also presented him with its highest award,\nthe Kenneth Rowe Ambassador of Aviation Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVic\u2019s dedication and skills have made a tremendous and\nlasting difference in Oklahoma and beyond,\u201d Howie said. \u201cHis tenure as director\nhas been marked with distinction by his peers in aviation and aerospace, and by\nprofessional firsts. He is a nationally respected leader in aviation, and his\nexpertise and advocacy have been instrumental in making aerospace Oklahoma\u2019s\nsecond largest industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ATS World Wide LLC President Stan Malicki describes his team\nas \u201cecstatic\u201d to have Bird join the company. \u201cWe believe Vic will use his\n\u2018Airvangelism\u2019 to help us make our revolutionary concept a reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird said he is also excited to become part of the ATS team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll get to work with Stan and Vince, two gentlemen I have\nimmense respect for and to help make this game-changing system a reality,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cPowered and controlled aircraft by the Wright brothers revolutionized\ntravel. The pressurized cabin, the jet engine, and air traffic control made\nmonumental changes to aviation that impacted the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe that this safety-enhancing, fuel-saving and\nenvironmentally friendly system of moving airliners on and around an airport\nwill have an impact similar in magnitude to these other innovations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Malicki, a successful Polish businessman, who first\nenvisioned the possibilities of the ATS system. Incorporated in Oklahoma in\n2016, the company collaborated early on with Oklahoma State University\u2019s (OSU)\nNew Product Development Center (NPDC) on the system\u2019s design. ATS is now\nworking with OSU\u2019s NPDC and other experts constructing the innovative ATS\nsystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Howie said Malicki\u2019s dream of creating a way for pilots to\nmove aircraft around airports without the use of a jet\u2019s engines is now\nentering the prototype construction phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe use an electric-powered pull car\/tow dolly system\ndesigned to automatically transport aircraft at airports using an underground\nchannel system,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter a pilot lands, the aviator taxis and drives\nonto the pull car\/tow dolly system. Once the aircraft\u2019s nose wheel is secured,\nthe pilot can shut off the main engines, saving fuel costs for airlines and\nother air carriers, and significantly reducing carbon emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the beauty of the ATS system is that aircraft move\nusing the underground channel system under the taxiway and on to the\nappropriate gate, and back, using electricity. The process reduces fumes (air\npollution), adds significant fuel savings and increases overall efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Managed by airport tower operators, the system optimizes\nairport taxiway traffic and equipment in and around flight operations, plus it\ncreates a much safer environment for aircraft at airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited because unique steel components have already\nbeen shipped from Poland and will soon arrive at our prototype test site at the\nArdmore Industrial Air Park in Ardmore, Oklahoma. We hope to move an airplane\nin early 2021,\u201d Howie said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Longtime Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission (OAC) Director Victor Bird, a recognized state and national aviation leader who retired as a public servant on Nov. 1, has been named chief operating officer for Aircraft Towing Systems (ATS) World Wide LLC. ATS Vice President\/Chief Executive Officer Vince Howie said he\u2019s been impressed with Bird\u2019s significant leadership and management […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oklahoma"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/vic_vince_aberdeen.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16863,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16861\/revisions\/16863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}