Oct. 19, 2016 // Rinaldi to Receive Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award

For Immediate Release

Oct. 19, 2016

Contact: Sarah McCann, 315-796-1560

Rinaldi to Receive Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award

WASHINGTON – National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Paul Rinaldi will receive the Air Traffic Control Association’s (ATCA) prestigious Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award tonight at the association’s annual awards banquet.

The Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award is one of the most prominent awards in aviation and ATCA’s highest honor. It is dedicated to the memory of one of the “Fathers of Air Traffic Control” and honors the lifelong achievements of an individual in the field of aviation. Glen Gilbert was a visionary who, along with Earl Ward, founded the U.S. air traffic system and dedicated his professional career to its improvement.

“I feel truly honored and humbled to receive this award,” said Rinaldi. “To see my name included alongside aviation greats such as the Honorable Jane Garvey and the Honorable Norman Mineta is surreal. This award is really an acknowledgement of the work of NATCA as a whole and validation of a great many activists in our Union. They work tirelessly to protect and modernize the National Airspace System and ensure that the people running the system are taken care of too.”

The ATCA board voted unanimously for Rinaldi to receive the award due to his exemplary career-long commitment to the betterment of the National Airspace System. The award is on permanent display in the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Rinaldi is currently serving his third term as NATCA’s President. He is the first person in the union’s history to serve three terms in the position. In his role, Rinaldi provides a voice for almost 20,000 air traffic control and aviation safety professionals. He has helped establish an unprecedented path of collaboration between NATCA and the federal agencies and organizations with which the union works.

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Certified in 1987, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association represents nearly 20,000 highly skilled air traffic controllers, engineers, and other safety-related professionals.

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