CFS 2018 Spotlight: NATCA Awards
Honoring Excellent Work and Supreme Dedication to Aviation Safety
Our annual awards luncheon at Communicating For Safety will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 23, from 12:15-1:45 p.m. in the main conference room. Several aviation safety professionals from around the National Airspace System (NAS) will be honored, including these awards:
Steve Hansen Safety Advocate Award
Named for the Chairman of the NATCA National Safety Committee, the Steve Hansen Safety Advocate Award is presented to a NATCA member who has made extraordinary achievements and has worked tirelessly on NATCA’s behalf to be a leader in furthering the cause of aviation safety. While each winner has contributed their skills, dedication, and work ethic in different ways, with varying areas of expertise, there is one thing that ties them all together: they are all passionate about safety and aviation.
NATCA National Professionalism Award
The goal of NATCA’s Professional Standards program is to maintain and promote professionalism across all of NATCA’s bargaining units. NATCA members achieve that through a commitment to safety and through upholding the public’s trust. They work to inspire, to motivate, to provide personal examples of our professionalism to others, and to maintain the highest standard of excellence. They know their actions represent all of their fellow professionals, and we work to bring honor and respect to all that they do. The NATCA National Professional Standards Committee (PSC) created the “NATCA National Professionalism Award” as a means to recognize the actions of those who continually strive to achieve these goals.
Team Excellence Award
This award was created to recognize NATCA teams, workgroups, or committees that exemplify the true collective spirit of working together to achieve greatness.
Helping Hearts
This award is presented by NATCA’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Committee to the facility with 15 or more employees that has the highest percentage of people trained to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Other awards to be presented at various points in the conference this week:
James L. Oberstar Sentinel of Safety Award
NATCA created the Sentinel of Safety Award as a way to honor aviation leaders outside NATCA who have displayed outstanding achievement in the advancement of aviation safety. The award is presented annually at NATCA’s Communicating For Safety conference. On Oct. 2, 2014, at its Biennial Convention in Minneapolis, NATCA proudly renamed the award to honor Congressman Jim Oberstar, who was a tireless advocate for aviation, air traffic control, and NATCA during his tenure in Congress and as the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Congressman Oberstar died on May 3, 2014, just a few weeks before NATCA in Washington, the event he supported and attended for many years, and at which in 2005 he was awarded the first Sentinel of Safety Award.
Beacon of NATCA
The Beacon of NATCA award is given to a facility that rises above and handles an emergency or disaster situation with grace under pressure. It was created to recognize those facilities that go above and beyond to perform the essential and difficult task of disaster response. The recipients of this award provide exceptional ATC services. The individuals in these facilities show incredible perseverance and inspire us. They are the beacon that guides us home and the heroes that rise above the chaos to keep the NAS running as safely and efficiently as possible.
