WAA Runway Report - October 2022

Runway Report

October 2022

Photo Courtesy of David Montiverdi

Safety Day Welcomes Aviation Experts

WAA Safety Day was a success! The fifth annual conference was held September 14th at Whippoorwill Club in Armonk, NY and featured 5 topics of importance to corporate, charter and private operators with the intent of improving safety. Chairman John Wellington kicked off the morning and spoke about WAA's work in conjunction with the Airport Advisory Board, educating the neighboring communities on the airport's progress relating to noise reduction and environmental responsibility, and taking an active roll in Westchester County's public meetings on the Master Plan to ensure all of the airport's positive contributions and improvements were entered into the public record.

Board Member Scott Dyer moderated our program and welcomed experts leading with Clément Meersseman and Gary Webb of AviationManuals who relayed that an SMS works from the top down and requires everyone's involvement in the flight department and lightheartedly remarked "it's not supposed to be complicated!" Sheryl Barden of Aviation Personnel International gave us an insightful look into hiring, retention, and salary in aviation professions. Chris Lutat of Convergent Performance unpacked the different generations coming together in the cockpit with amusing examples and presented a unique view of leading, mentoring and training concepts in the goal of teamwork and professionalism.

A clear blue sky allowed for lunch on the patio and Kevin Meenan of CityDroneZ resumed our afternoon session with the role of the airport, FAA and local law enforcement after an inflight drone encounter. Keith Sawyer of Avfuel introduced the options available to operators to reduce their carbon footprint and the supply, demand, safety, incentives, accounting of SAF and alternative measures including book and claim and carbon offsetting.

We'd like to thank all of our presenters, volunteers and attendees who contributed to this educational conference.

View Safety Day Photos

2022 WAA Bill Weaver Aviation Scholarships Winners Announced

The recipients of the 2022 WAA Bill Weaver Aviation Scholarship were announced at WAA Safety Day where John Wellington spoke about a beloved figure of the airport, Bill Weaver, for whom the scholarship is named and dedicated. Scholarship Chair Luke Egan thanked Aaron Hollewell of Academy of Aviation and Mark Bennett of Performance Flight in sponsoring the generous awards which provide a total of $11,000 in flight training credits to two aspiring pilots.

Alexandre Babkine-Osterrath is our Introductory Flight Award Recipient, pictured above with Aaron Hollewell and his mother.

He's an 11th grader at Edgemont High School in Scarsdale and has been taking glider lessons since 2020. He participates in the Civil Air Patrol and received 2 leadership awards including the Westchester Cadet Squadron Excelsior Excellence Award and the Wright Brother Achievement Award. He plans to study aeronautical engineering in college and will pursue a private pilot certificate with his scholarship at Academy of Aviation HPN.

Philip Martin is our Professional Pilot Career Award Receipient, pictured above with Mark Bennett and his parents.

He became interested in aviation after his dad called him to watch the Space Shuttle Endeavor launch. It was a life changing moment and he started reading articles, watching documentaries and talking to teachers about aviation. He became a private pilot in March 2022 and has aspirations of becoming a JetBlue A320 pilot. Philip is studying Aerospace Engineering at Penn State University and will pursue an instrument rating at Performance Flight HPN with this scholarship.

Airport Operations Update

Westchester County Airport has announced a Breach of Rules (BOR) Program designed to improve overall safety of the airport community. This follows the annual TSA inspection of the Airport Security Program (ASP) which highlighted areas where the airport excels and areas where improvements can be made.

The program went into effect September 12 and is based on recommendations and industry best practices. It encourages preventable security behaviors such as failure to challenge, misuse of SIDA/AOA badge, piggybacking, violating escort procedures and violating the Class I & II permits. Security violations are escalated through remediation measures and companies and individuals are held accountable.

Read about the BOR Program Here.

Safe Drone Operations Near Westchester County Airport

CityDroneZ has compiled an informative site with a wealth of information for remote pilot operators, local law enforcement officials and recreational users. The topics include:

FAA regulations for commercial drone operations
FAA registration requirements
FAA Remote ID
B4UFLY
HPN Grid Map for LAANC Operations
FAA Aviation Reporting System

View Website

Job Opportunity

Citi Aviation is Hiring

Aircraft Scheduler/Dispatcher

White Plains, NY

View Job Description

Westchester Aviation Association