{"id":26704,"date":"2023-09-25T15:13:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T15:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=26704"},"modified":"2023-09-25T15:14:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T15:14:11","slug":"ambassador-carol-b-hallett-to-receive-the-2023-donald-d-engen-aero-club-trophy-for-aviation-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/ambassador-carol-b-hallett-to-receive-the-2023-donald-d-engen-aero-club-trophy-for-aviation-excellence\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Ambassador Carol B. Hallett to Receive the 2023 Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Carol B. Hallett<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Board of Governors of the Aero Club of Washington is\npleased to announce that Ambassador Carol B. Hallett has been selected as the recipient\nof the 2023 Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence. Hallett\nis being honored for her visionary leadership and lifelong dedication to\nshaping the future of aviation during her distinguished career in public and\nprivate service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1993, the Engen Trophy is awarded for \u201c\u201c\u2026 a\nrecord of lifetime achievement; or a single event; or a series of acts by an\nindividual; a team; or by a corporation or organization that reaffirms the\nWright Brothers\u2019 standard of excellence in aviation.\u201d Previous recipients\ninclude Herb Kelleher, the STS-114 Discovery Shuttle Crew, Scott Crossfield,\nthe Tuskegee Airmen, Linda Hall Daschle, and the 2022 recipient Stephen\nAlterman. The permanent trophy resides in the Smithsonian\u2019s National Air and Space\nMuseum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarol Hallett is a force of nature and has served aviation\nfor decades in government and industry positions with a unique combination of\nstyle, perseverance and persistence,\u201d said Aero Club President, Darby Becker.\n\u201cThe Aero Club of Washington is delighted to recognize her contributions!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the daughter of a U.S. Army pilot in WWI, aviation has\nbeen in Carol Hallett\u2019s blood since the day she was born. In 1959, Hallett saw\na road-side sign advertising \u201c$1 Airplane Rides\u201d, and the very next day she\nwent and bought the plane for herself, figuring she\u2019ll learn how to fly it\nlater. At the time, there were very few pilots, let alone female pilots, but\nHallett went on to earn her license and log over 5,000 flight hours. Her\nability to fly opened doors for Hallett, especially as she pursued a political\ncareer in the California State Assembly, ultimately becoming California\u2019s first\nfemale Minority Leader. She credits her victory, a Republican in a heavily\nDemocrat district, to her ability to fly from campaign stop to campaign stop,\nsurprising voters because she stood out with her plane. After winning the\nelection, Hallett\u2019s plane became an invaluable tool, allowing her to cross the\nexpansive 300+ miles of CA-29 in no time. Local news affectionately dubbed her\nthe Flying Assemblywoman, and she leveraged that moniker in her legislative\nagenda to enhance aviation safety, airport security, build laws to combat local\naerial drug trafficking, and reform noise ordinance rules in the state\u2019s policy\nagenda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After making a name for herself in California politics as\nthe Flying Assemblywoman, Hallett caught the eye of soon-to-be President,\nRonald Reagan. With her knowledge of aviation and drug trafficking from her\ntime in California, in 1986 she was President Reagan\u2019s choice for Ambassador to\nthe Bahamas. It was here that she developed the first effective drug\ninterdiction program in the region, an effort that benefited greatly from her\nbackground in aviation. At the time, the Bahamas was the leading source of\nillicit narcotics into the United States, and U.S. Customs tracked dozens of\ncartel planes each month flying drugs in and out of the country. Hallett\npartnered with Customs and the FAA to implement new air traffic procedures to\nbetter intercept and prevent these drug planes from flying so brazenly in and\nout of the country. Her actions to intercede the drug traffickers\u2019 use of\nplanes at one point led to a bounty for her assassination and required elevated\nsecurity. In a bold response, Hallett asked Customs if she could keep one of\nthe seized drug planes for her personal and official use, and they said yes.\nThe Flying Assemblywoman was now flying a former cartel plane around the 700+\nislands of the Bahamas, no doubt a slap in the face to cartel leaders. By the\nend of her appointment, the Bahamas was no longer the top trafficker of drugs\ninto the U.S. – once again proving that Hallett could affect change by\nleveraging her ability to fly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following her success combatting the air-based trafficking\nof drugs into the U.S., President George H.W. Bush tapped Hallett for\nCommissioner of the U.S. Customs Service (a precursor to today\u2019s Customs and\nBorder Patrol and Transportation Security Administration). In this role she\noversaw a massive operation responsible for processing 1.3 million airline\npassengers per day and trillions of dollars of merchandise annually. Hallett\u2019s\nleadership led to significant improvements in investigation and enforcement\noperations, particularly in reforming aerial cargo screening, narcotics interception,\nfirst ever arial surveillance of the southern border, and money laundering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1995, following her successful tenure as Commissioner of\nCustoms Enforcement, Hallett was selected to become the first female President\nand CEO of the Air Transport Association (ATA), now renamed Airlines for\nAmerica (A4A). Overnight, Hallett became the top lobbyist in the U.S. for\ncommercial aviation and was oftentimes the only woman in the room fighting for\nindustry reform that promoted growth and enhanced safety during her 8-year\ntenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallett\u2019s biggest impact on the aviation industry may have\ncome in the hours, months, and years following the September 11, 2001,\nterrorist attacks. On that morning, Hallett was in a Senator\u2019s office lobbying\non behalf of the airline industry when she received word from her staff that\nthe White House was trying to reach her. In a time before modern internet,\nHallett, representing the entire airline industry, was the fastest and only way\nto immediately connect all of the airline CEOs across the nation. In that\nmoment, she became one of the most influential people in the U.S. for ensuring\nthe protection of the airline industry, and served as the liaison between the\nWhite House, intelligence agencies, and airlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 9\/11 terrorist attacks had a profound impact on air\ntravel demand and created significant financial challenges for the airlines.\nThe airline industry needed a single figure to unite around and turn to for\nleadership, and that person was Hallett. In response to these challenges, ATA\nactively collaborated with industry stakeholders and worked closely with the\nU.S. government to navigate the crisis and ensure the industry’s survival. In\naddition to financial support, Hallett worked closely with heads of government\nagencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Central\nIntelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and\nTransportation Security Administration (TSA), to address security concerns and\nenhance airline safety. Under Hallett\u2019s leadership, ATA was able to play a\nvital role in helping the U.S. airline industry tackle a recovery, financial\ninstability, security measures, and new regulatory frameworks that support the\nlong-term success of aviation for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After retiring from ATA in 2003, Hallett has remained active\nin the industry, serving on the board of directors for aviation companies such\nas Rolls-Royce, Atlas Air Worldwide, and All Nippon Airways. She also served on\nthe CIA Director\u2019s National Security Advisory Panel for aviation policy and the\nTransnational Threats Task Force at the Center for Strategic and International\nStudies. Hallett has continued to lobby for the protection and growth of the\naviation industry while serving Of Counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,\nspearheading the Chamber\u2019s Annual Aviation Summit, which she founded over 20\nyears ago. The conference continues to serve as one of the largest gatherings\nof aviation CEOs in the U.S. each year.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aero Club of Washington will present the Engen Trophy to Ambassador Hallett at the organization\u2019s November 14, 2023, luncheon at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. For more information, please visit www.aeroclub.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Board of Governors of the Aero Club of Washington is pleased to announce that Ambassador Carol B. Hallett has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence. Hallett is being honored for her visionary leadership and lifelong dedication to shaping the future of aviation during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26704","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=26704"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26707,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26704\/revisions\/26707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}