Keynote Speakers
Capt. Tim Canoll
President, Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l
Captain Tim Canoll (Delta) is the tenth president of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), which represents more than 57,000 professional airline pilots in the United States and Canada, and is the largest nongovernmental aviation safety organization in the world. He was elected by the union's Board of Directors on Oct. 22, 2014, and began his four-year term on Jan. 1, 2015.
As ALPA's chief executive and administrative officer, Captain Canoll oversees daily operations of the Association and presides over the meetings of ALPA's governing bodies, which set policy for the organization. He is also the chief spokesman for the union, advancing pilots' views in the airline industry before Congress, Parliament, government agencies, airline and other business executives, and also the news media.
As ALPA’s president, Captain Canoll is a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council as well as the Executive Committee of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department. He serves on the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee, which is made up of industry decision makers and is tasked with advising the agency on key decisions regarding the improvement and modernizing of the nation’s aviation infrastructure, and the Drone Advisory Committee, which collaborates with aviation and technology stakeholders to advise on the safe integration of unmanned aircraft into the nation’s airspace.
Captain Canoll previously served as ALPA's executive administrator. His preceding ALPA offices include Delta Local Executive Council representative, Master Executive Council (MEC) Strike Committee member, MEC Security coordinator, MEC Strategic Planning chairman, MEC Negotiating Committee member, MEC vice chairman, and MEC executive administrator. In addition, the tenth ALPA president served as ALPA's representative to the Unsecured Creditors Committee during Delta Air Lines' 2005 bankruptcy.
Captain Canoll is a Delta MD-88 captain based in Atlanta, having also flown the B-727, L1011, and the B-767/757. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, class of 1982, and a former Navy Reserve F/A-18 Strike Fighter Squadron commanding officer. He retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve as a captain in 2008.
Ms. Kathy Fox
Chair, Transportation Safety Board of Canada
Kathy Fox selected air traffic control as a career in 1974, and worked at Transport Canada control towers in Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles, Saint-Hubert and Montréal-Dorval, as well as at the Montréal Area Control Centre.
From 1982 until 1986 she was in charge of air traffic control training at the CEGEP Saint-Jean-sur- Richelieu, a cooperative training program coordinated by Transport Canada and the Quebec Ministry of Education.
Ms. Fox left operational controlling in 1992 to accept a developmental assignment with Air Traffic Services Headquarters in Ottawa, assuming progressively senior positions. She transferred to NAV CANADA in 1996 and became Director, Safety & Quality, in 1997; then Director, Air Traffic Services, in 1999. In 2000, she was appointed Assistant Vice-President, Air Traffic Services. She became Vice-President, Operations, on April 1, 2003. As Vice-President, Operations, Ms. Fox was responsible for providing executive leadership and direction throughout NAV CANADA’s Operations Group. She retired from NAV CANADA in June 2007 and was appointed as a Member of the TSB in July 2007.
Ms. Fox received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from McGill University. She also completed a Master of Science in Human Factors and System Safety with Lund University in Sweden.
She has been extensively involved in other aviation activities for over 40 years, including sport parachuting and commercial aviation. She holds an airline transport pilot licence and flight instructor rating and has flown over 5,000 hours. Ms. Fox is a recipient of the Fédération aéronautique internationale Paul Tissandier Diploma and the Queen Elizabeth II Anniversary Medal for her contributions to sport parachuting in Canada. She received the Transport Canada Aviation Safety Award in 1999. In November 2004, she was inducted into the Quebec Air and Space Hall of Fame. Ms. Fox received the Elsie MacGill Northern Lights Award in 2010 and the David Charles Abramson Flight Instructor Safety Award in 2011. She was also inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame on June 9, 2016.
The Honorable Michael Huerta
Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration
Michael P. Huerta is the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. He was sworn in to office on Jan. 7, 2013, for a five-year term and is responsible for the safety and efficiency of the largest aerospace system in the world. He oversees a $16.3-billion-dollar budget and more than 47,000 employees.
During his tenure, Huerta has worked to redefine the FAA’s regulatory relationship with the aviation industry to achieve greater levels of safety through increased collaboration and widespread sharing of data. He also has led the agency’s efforts to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system through the NextGen program while preparing the way for the safe integration of commercial space operations and small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Since the beginning of Huerta’s term, the FAA has completed key building blocks of NextGen, including the installation of modern information systems to serve as the backbone for future technological improvements. The FAA also completed the installation of a comprehensive network of ground-based radio stations that enable the use of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) instead of radar to better manage air traffic. In addition, the agency has made significant progress in harnessing GPS technology to modernize thousands of air traffic routes in congested airspace. The FAA expects NextGen to deliver an estimated $134 billion in direct airline, industry and passenger benefits by 2030. NextGen is already reducing the environmental footprint of aviation through significant reductions in fuel consumption as aircraft use these more efficient routes.
Under Huerta’s leadership, the FAA eliminated a decades-old ban on the use of personal electronic devices aboard airplanes, making it possible for passengers to use many devices from gate to gate.
Most recently, Huerta led the agency’s efforts to integrate small UAS into the busiest and most complex airspace in the world. In late 2015, the FAA developed and put into a place a registration system that enables the agency to keep track of this growing segment of aviation while ensuring that new operators are provided with important safety information. The agency collaborated with a growing number of commercial operators and hobbyists to develop and issue a set of sensible regulations that will ensure safety and create an environment that fosters innovation, exhibited most recently in the rule for small unmanned aircraft.
Under Huerta’s leadership, the FAA continues to build on the unparalleled safety record of the U.S. aviation industry by harnessing the power of safety data gathered with each commercial flight. In 2015, the FAA built upon its already successful collaboration with the airline industry to adopt a new Compliance Philosophy that relies on risk-based decision making to identify and correct problems in the National Airspace System before they result in an accident or incident. This system relies on an open and transparent exchange of information between the FAA and the industry that is seen as the next evolution in improving safety.
Huerta is an experienced transportation official who held a number of key positions before coming to the FAA. He was a managing director of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games focusing on the planning and construction of a variety of Olympic transportation facilities, as well as the development of a highly successful travel demand management system that ensured the transportation system operated safely and efficiently.
Before joining the FAA as deputy administrator in June 2010, Huerta held senior positions at Affiliated Computer Services from 2002 to 2009, rising to the position of president of the Transportation Solutions Group; ACS is now a Xerox company specializing in business processes and information technology.
Huerta was commissioner of New York City’s Department of Ports, International Trade and Commerce from 1986 to 1989. He then served as the executive director of the Port of San Francisco from 1989 to 1993. From 1993 to 1998, he held senior positions in the U.S. Transportation Department in Washington, D.C., serving under Secretary Federico Pena and Secretary Rodney E. Slater.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California-Riverside and a master’s in public affairs, with a concentration in international relations, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
The Honorable Robert Sumwalt
Acting Chair, National Transportation Safety Board
Robert L. Sumwalt was appointed the 37th member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in August 2006, whereupon President George W. Bush designated him as vice chairman of the Board for a two-year term. In November 2011, President Barack Obama reappointed Sumwalt to an additional five-year term as a board member. He was designated vice chairman by President Donald Trump on March 31, 2017.
Since joining the Board, Sumwalt has been a fierce advocate for improving safety in all modes of transportation, focusing especially on teen driver safety, ending impaired driving, and eliminating distractions in transportation, as well as on several aviation and rail safety initiatives.
Before joining the NTSB, Sumwalt was a pilot for 32 years, including 24 years with Piedmont Airlines and US Airways. He accumulated over 14,000 flight hours. During his tenure at US Airways, he worked on a special assignment to the flight safety department and also served on the airline’s Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) monitoring team. Following his airline career, Sumwalt managed the corporate aviation department for a Fortune 500 energy company.
In other notable accomplishments, Sumwalt chaired the Air Line Pilots Association’s Human Factors and Training Group, and co-founded the association’s critical incident response program. He also spent eight years as a consultant to NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and has written extensively on aviation safety matters.
Sumwalt earned his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina and his Master of Aeronautical Science (with Distinction) from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with concentrations in aviation/aerospace safety systems and human factors aviation systems.
Mr. Neil R. Wilson
President and Chief Executive Officer, NAV CANADA
Neil R. Wilson is president and CEO of NAV CANADA, as of Jan. 1, 2016. He served as executive vice president, administration and general counsel for the company from 2013-2016, responsible for all legal and corporate services, in addition to human resources and customer and commercial services.
Wilson joined NAV CANADA as vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary in 2002. From that date until his appointment as president and CEO, Wilson was the company’s chief legal officer as well as corporate secretary. He has also been responsible for other corporate functions including contracting, logistics, and fleet; the company’s insurance program; environment and occupational health and safety; and corporate security.
Prior to joining NAV CANADA, he was a partner in the Ottawa office of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, where he had extensive experience in a wide variety of transactions and areas of litigation. These included establishing NAV CANADA as a private corporation and acquiring Canada’s Air Navigation System, as well as a range of other commercial transactions.
Called to the Bar in Ontario in 1986, Wilson acquired his law degree from Queen's University, where he received a number of academic awards. His undergraduate work was in political science and economics at the University of Toronto. Wilson is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Ms. Teri L. Bristol
Chief Operating Officer, Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation Administration
As chief operating officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO), Teri Bristol is responsible for ensuring safe, efficient, and secure air traffic services for 50,000 aircraft operating over approximately 30.2 million square miles every day.
In her role, Bristol provides leadership and direction for 33,000 employees providing the organization’s core functions of air traffic services, technical and systems operations, safety management, technical training, mission services, management services, program management, and flight program operations. She has made great strides on behalf of the agency on labor relations, and has played a key role in the deployment and integration of NextGen capabilities, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and commercial space operations into daily National Airspace System (NAS) operations.
Throughout her 24-year career Bristol has had extensive experience in leading the technically varied missions of the ATO. Prior to being named COO in 2014, she served as deputy chief operating officer in 2012–2013, assuming greater responsibility for operations domestically and for the agency’s role in international air navigation services. In previous positions Bristol oversaw the maintenance, monitoring, and engineering services in the NAS, directed operational support and integration services across the nation’s airspace, and was directly responsible for the daily operation of air traffic control facilities throughout the western United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Bristol was elected as Chair of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Executive Committee in June 2017. In this role she represents the FAA in efforts to harmonize air traffic policies and procedures and develop best practices for the safe and efficient delivery of air navigation services.
Bristol represents the ATO on the FAA's Drone Advisory Committee and is a member of the NextGen Executive Board, the NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC), an executive leader of the NAC’s NextGen Integration Working Group, and an ex-officio member of the RTCA Policy Board.