George D. Williams, Secretary

George Williams is a retired member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Senior Executive Service. His background includes experience as an air traffic controller, supervisor, and manager in many of the United States’ largest air traffic control facilities. He has both Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and Terminal RADAR approach control (TRACON) expertise. 

Mr. Williams served as Division Manager for the FAA Automation Software Development Division, ATR-400, at the FAA’s Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ. He also served as Division Manager for the En Route Operational Support Division, which was responsible for the development, implementation, and maintenance of all automation and hardware used in controlling aircraft in the En Route air traffic control system. 

He was Acting Director of the Operational Support Service, which included the En Route, Terminal, Flight Service, and Communication and Surveillance Divisions. Mr. Williams has experience in the development, distribution, integration, and commissioning of the majority of our nation’s aviation systems. His division developed replacement software and hardware for the FAA’s HOST air traffic control system, as well as the FAA’s Oceanic Air Traffic Control equipment.

Mr. Williams taught air traffic control at the FAA’s Air Traffic Academy in Oklahoma City and worked in the FAA Requirements Division in Washington, DC where he developed training requirements for the FAA’s National Airspace Plan. He retired from the FAA as Division Manager of the Western-Pacific Region. He also served as Director of Air Traffic for a major airline, as well as Acting Senior Director for their Systems Operations Center. 

Mr. Williams has been a principal in Williams Aviation Consultants, Inc., GEOCRIS Consultants, Inc., and G & C Aviation Consulting, Inc. since retiring from the FAA in March of 1998.

SPECIAL TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS 

While serving as Manager of the FAA’s Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region, Mr. Williams managed payroll, equipment, and operational budgets in excess of $25M and oversaw approximately 3,200 air traffic personnel in the division, two En Route air traffic control centers, a Center Radar Approach Control, and approximately 140 air traffic control facilities in Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, the territory of Guam, and the majority of the Pacific Islands. 

His other responsibilities included, but were not limited to: Human Resource management, financial management, budget formulation and execution, project management, project costing, strategic planning, union-management relations, team-building, action team-building facilitator, terminal and En Route air traffic control specialist, management experience supervising and managing En Route and terminal facilities, and management experience in the development, maintenance, and repair of hardware and software systems for the FAA terminal and En Route air traffic control facilities. 

He also conducted public hearings on noise and environmental issues, facilitated and chaired citizen workgroups, provided mentoring, and fostered employee development activities. By combining the Air Traffic Requirements Service and the Airway Facilities Service Maintenance Divisions, he created the Operational Support Service, which had responsibility for all hardware and software throughout the nation’s air traffic control system. He is also experienced in Airway Facilities’ first- and second-level maintenance support activities.

 

SIGNIFICANT CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

  • Mr. Williams completed Candidate Development for the United States (U.S.) Government’s Senior Executive Service (SES) program and was selected and confirmed into the SES as Air Traffic Division Manager for the Western-Pacific Region. Selection into the SES qualified him to serve as a Senior Executive in any organization within the Federal Government, regardless of the agency or function.

  • He was appointed by the Director of Air Traffic and the Administrator of the FAA to head a task force in Los Angeles, CA to review air traffic operations and flight patterns in the Southern California area. He formed and led a workgroup consisting of FAA representatives, airport officials, pilots, airline officials, the Air Transport Association, congressional representatives, and state and community representatives from all areas of Southern California. The task force’s objective was to address environmental issues of the communities and review airspace and procedures in an effort to ensure a better quality of life for surrounding communities. As a result, several positive steps were taken to reduce noise and over-flight intrusions by aircraft utilizing airports in the Los Angeles Basin. (Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region) 

  • Mr. Williams was again appointed by the Director of Air Traffic to lead an evaluation team to assess the state of air traffic training for the En Route air traffic control option. The team consisted of 12 senior managers from all parts of the U.S. Team members visited each of the En Route centers and evaluated the effectiveness of the training contractor and the success of the developmental controllers who were being trained to journeyman-level proficiency. A lengthy report was presented to the Director of the Air Traffic Service recommending a number of initiatives to enhance training and improve the success rates of developmental controllers. A number of these suggestions were incorporated into the National Air Traffic Controller Training Program. (Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region) 

  • George directed the establishment of a flow-control system at Las Vegas Tower to make more effective use of runways for arrivals and departures into McCarran International Airport. This included funding and overall division-level management for the implementation of the LAS 2000 airspace project. (Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region) 

  • He formed a task force of federal, state, military, and business leaders to address user and citizen concerns in the Las Vegas area. The task force evaluated civil and military traffic flows for the seven-area airports. Operations, at the time, were not compatible due to the procedures in use at the primary airport. Additional routes and procedures were developed, which allowed military controllers at Nellis Air Force Base to handle traffic to and from the North Las Vegas Airport when runway configurations at McCarran International Airport rendered satellite airport-departure routes ineffective. (Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region) 

  • Mr. Williams provided the overall management strategy, requirements, funding, and negotiations with the air traffic controller’s union, for the implementation of a dual-arrival initiative for Los Angeles International Airport (Dual Civet Arrival). This required a realignment of airspace and routes between the Los Angeles ARTCC and the Southern California TRACON. The successful initiative included political negotiations, congressional briefings, and environmental and rule-making decisions. Upon implementation, the Air Transport Association recognized the Dual Arrival project as the Outstanding Accomplishment in the Western- and Northwest-Pacific Regions for 1997. (Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region)

  • He coordinated a complete overhaul of the Oakland ARTCC oceanic and domestic route structures and worked with managers and union officials to identify required oceanic sectors, equipment and personnel needs, training programs, and schedules. He gained approval for the airspace restructuring between Northern California TRACON (NCT), Bay Approach Control, Sacramento TRACON, and other facilities to staff the NCT facility; he also gained approval for the movement of En Route sectors into the terminal environment for increased terminal efficiency and capacity. (Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region) 

  • Mr. Williams was responsible for the development and strategic management of the Display System Replacement (DSR) initiative for all En Route air traffic control centers. This was a contingency plan for the Initial Sector Suite System (ISSS) development effort by IBM to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system. DSR was developed to ensure software expertise would be available to support new systems in future years. The expertise of earlier systems had been lost through attrition within the workforce. (FAA Technical Center, NJ) 

  • He also planned and implemented the interim solution for seven of the air traffic control centers and managed the development of the air traffic control system used in the control of oceanic air traffic in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. His solution effectively combined two dissimilar air traffic display languages into one congruent display. (FAA Technical Center, NJ) 

  • As Manager of the Los Angeles ARTCC, he planned and executed recovery plans for the Center’s air traffic system. He reduced the facility’s overtime expenditures by more than $700,000 per year and increased the number of qualified air traffic controllers by more than 100 without degrading service. (Los Angeles ARTCC, CA) 

  • George implemented the Southern Terminal Airspace Realignment (STAR) in Southern California, which provided the basis for transitioning several facilities into the TRACON. STAR delegated En Route airspace to terminal facilities in Southern California, in order to enable the application of reduced longitudinal separation and a more direct route structure. He also introduced team action for staff and managers at the Center and introduced participative management techniques to managers, supervisors, and union leaders throughout the Western-Pacific Region. (Los Angeles ARTCC, CA) 

  • As Director of Air Traffic for America West Airlines, he developed an off-load procedure for Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles that facilitated a reduction in specific runway demand when departing to eastern U.S. destinations. He also performed service evaluations in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles and made significant recommendations that improved on-time performance. 

  • Mr. Williams evaluated America West’s efficiency at their largest hubs and recommended changes in local operations that saved time and money. He developed a tracking system, which accounted for delays by type and traced delays from source to conclusion. He also developed ramp tower procedures for the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. 

  • He formulated America West’s strategic plan, growth plan, compliance documents, routes, and schedules. He also enlarged the airline’s Operations Center to better accommodate airline growth and realigned managers within System Operations Control (SOC). He implemented a fleet-management concept and developed an organization that addressed aircraft fleet issues with specific SOC managers. He also prepared cost analyses for the SOC and recommended several money-saving strategies. 

  • George served on teams addressing America West’s compliance with federal regulations and worked on the FAA’s Flight Standards team to address air traffic and dispatch issues. Daily, he and his staff performed efficiency evaluations at the Las Vegas and Phoenix HUBs. Together, they submitted recommendations for efficiency and capacity improvements, which related to ground and air operations, tracked on-time performance, and provided management with reasons for variances. He also negotiated with airline station managers, airport managers, and the FAA to achieve operational advantages for the airline.