It’s hard to believe that the Federal Aviation Administration celebrated its 60th birthday on August 23, 2018. This is a tremendous milestone; one that represents decades of research, training, compliance, and continually enhancing safety performance. Traveling by air has never been safer than it is today. It is through partnerships and collaborations and creating a culture of safety that we are where we are today. We don’t compete when it comes to safety. Creating partnerships is the only way we can meet our future challenges.

This past month we celebrated the work and innovations of several Aeronautical employees with the annual AFN Awards ceremony. Congratulations to each of you for continuing to go above and beyond in being exceptional public servants and keeping the agency’s work in your best interest. During the month, we had a presence at the 13th Annual Tinker & the Primes Event, where Kevin O’Connor spoke about the critical role that the Aeronautical Center plays in supporting the safe and efficient operations of our national and international aviation systems, and how Center employees are continuously seeking new and innovative ways to support the Presidential Initiative to streamline federal government. We also had a presence at the 2018 Indian Country Business Summit where representatives from government, business and tribal procurement representatives had an opportunity to share valuable insights about government procurement processes.

It was a pleasure to welcome members from the Department of Transportation and FAA headquarters to the Center. Our distinguished guests included John Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget (OST B-1), Keith Nelson, Assistant Secretary for Administration (OST M-1), Carl Burleson, Acting FAA Deputy Administrator (ADA-1), Colleen Donovan, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Administrator (ADA-2) and Anthony Chestnut, Financial Analyst (OST B-30). Congressman Steve Russell [R-OK5] also visited the Center and had an opportunity to converse with many employees as well as personally congratulate our AFN Award Winners.

Members from the William J. Hughes Technical Center and the Aeronautical Center met here at the Center to participate in a Joint ANG/MMAC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Program Review to discuss action plans and future initiatives. The work coming out of this committee is very exciting and you should expect to see more from such collaborations in the near future.

Leaders from the Oklahoma City Federal Executive Board toured the Center, hosting one of our largest tours to date – 70 people! Special thanks to all the organizations for helping to coordinate this full-day activity.

If you haven’t already noticed, the Aeronautical Center has a new public facing website, so be sure to check out the site and share it with others.

And lastly, please remember to help those in our community who are hungry through the Feds Feed Families program. There’s still time to donate non-perishable items on site or via on-line methods. It’s never too late to help someone in need.

Thanks for all you do every day in making the Aeronautical Center a great place to work.

Kindly,


Michelle Coppedge
Director, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center