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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 the Minneapolis Convention, 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.
Congressman Oberstar didn’t just talk about unions or work with unions. He WAS union. He once famously told a gathering of NATCA members that the National Airspace System and aviation safety was “in your hands. Good hands. Great hands. Great minds. Great people. NATCA people.”
NATCA welcomed the late Congressman’s wife, Jean, to Minneapolis at the 2014 Convention to honor his commitment to safety and to NATCA. She is pictured at right with (left to right) NATCA President Paul Rinaldi, former Executive Vice President Dr. Ruth Stilwell, former President John Carr, and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert.
Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., whose impassioned dedication to aviation safety has been highlighted by his efforts to demand accountability and a thorough examination of flawed and secretive Federal Aviation Administration efforts to realign air traffic […]
In honor of her dedication to aviation, NATCA awarded former Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey with its Sentinel of Safety Award, its highest honor for those outside of the organization who have displayed outstanding achievements in […]
On February 1, 2012, at NATCA’s Communicating for Safety conference in Atlanta, Jim Fossey, the former FAA Air Traffic Organization director of safety and special projects, was presented with the NATCA Sentinel of Safety Award. The […]
NATCA created the Sentinel of Safety Award as a way to honor a member of the aviation community who has displayed outstanding achievement in the advancement of aviation safety. Randy Babbitt, a true champion of aviation […]
With the National Safety Committee onstage in support, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert presented Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) President Capt. Lee Moak with the Sentinel of Safety award on […]
Of the many awards NATCA bestows, the Sentinel of Safety is among the most prestigious. The award, a mainstay of Communicating for Safety (CFS), was renamed at the NATCA Biennial Convention in 2014 in honor of […]
