ATCA Board Selects Former FAA Administrator Michael Huerta as 2025 Recipient of Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – ATCA today is very proud to announce that it will present its highest honor, the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award, to Michael Huerta, a first generation college graduate from Riverside, Calif., who rose as an accomplished technology and transportation executive with a deep passion for safety and public service to become the longest-serving administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), presiding over the safest period in U.S. aviation history.
Huerta will be honored on Oct. 29 during an award soirée to be held for the first time at the extraordinarily renovated Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, site of the permanent home of the trophy whose annual recipient is celebrated in memory of one of the recognized fathers of air traffic control. The award, created in 1986, honors the achievements of individuals who have made a lifelong commitment to aviation and safety.
Huerta is the fifth former FAA Administrator to be honored with this award, joining Najeeb Halaby (1988), J. Lynn Helms (1989), Langhorne Bond (1999), and Jane Garvey (2011).
“It is an honor to be recognized by the ATCA board as a recipient of the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award,” said Huerta. “It was 90 years ago when Glen Gilbert was instrumental in developing a communication system to track aircraft enroute, with the goal reducing the risk of collisions. Today, aviation is all about communication and collaboration. We don’t compete on safety and our industry’s exceptional safety record is built in the efforts of many. But we all know there is more to be done. Every life lost is one too many, and we must live on in the spirit of Glen Gilbert to always find ways to make things even more safe.”
Huerta held senior positions at the U.S. Department of Transportation under Secretaries Federico Peña and Rodney Slater. In 2010, he became the FAA’s Deputy Administrator, serving under FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. In December 2011, Huerta became Acting Administrator when Babbitt departed from the FAA. Huerta was nominated for Administrator in 2013 by President Barack Obama and, after Senate confirmation, served a full five-year term, through January 2018.
During his tenure, the FAA redefined its regulatory relationship with the aviation industry and achieved key milestones in its NextGen air traffic modernization mission through improved collaboration – with both industry and the FAA’s own workforce – and data sharing. He served as the first Designated Federal Official of the NextGen Advisory Committee, introduced drones into the National Airspace System (NAS), and enabled a new era of airspace management, creating thousands of satellite-based routes and commercial space flights into the NAS. Along the way, he led the Agency through countless challenges, including two government shutdowns and 23 short-term funding extensions.
“Michael truly exemplified the principle of government-industry collaboration and displayed an unwavering commitment to aviation safety that guided the FAA, the industry, and the airspace and air traffic management community,” said Paul Feldman, Chair of the ATCA Board of Directors. “Under his visionary leadership, the FAA achieved significant milestones and advancements in a variety of safety and efficiency domains, including for general aviation, shaping aviation for decades to come. He truly exemplifies the standard of excellence throughout a distinguished career of stellar, impactful leadership that is central to the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award. I am thrilled that Michael is this year’s recipient.”
Throughout his FAA tenure, Huerta championed the implementation of the Safety Management System framework, which introduced a proactive and data-driven approach to safety, allowing for more effective risk identification, assessment, and mitigation. This groundbreaking work has improved safety outcomes by fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration among industry stakeholders.
He also led the fundamental shift in the way the FAA regulates the industry, transitioning from a focus solely on enforcement to the adoption of the Compliance Philosophy in 2015. The goal of the Compliance Philosophy (now known as the Compliance Program) is to identify safety issues that underlie deviations from standards and correct them as effectively, quickly, and efficiently as possible. To do this, it embraces self-disclosure of errors and also involves collaborating with the aviation community to share information about safety issues that underlie deviations from standards.
Furthermore, he led the implementation of several key regulations and programs that have significantly contributed to the reduction of accidents and incidents. Under his leadership, the FAA accelerated the work of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, and the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee using the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) program. These initiatives facilitate the analysis and sharing of data and information among government agencies, industry, and other stakeholders. This collaborative effort has enhanced the industry's ability to identify trends, develop targeted interventions, and improve performance, contributing to the safest period in aviation history.
Huerta has said the very definition of aviation changed during his time leading the FAA. He told the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture audience in 2017 that he watched unmanned aircraft go “from a curiosity to a hobby to what it is today, an entirely new segment of aviation.” His tenure oversaw several important milestones, including the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, the publication of a final rule focused on fostering safety and innovation for general aviation aircraft, the establishment of the Drone Advisory Committee and the rollout of Part 107. Commercial UAV News wrote: “His efforts to work with drone technology advocates without jeopardizing the safety of the skies have established a legacy for commercial drone regulation that will serve the industry far longer than the specific policies he helped to enable. ... Specifically tasked with providing a framework for integrating new technology like drones safely into the national airspace, Huerta found himself at the forefront of discussions about how terms like ‘aircraft’ and even ‘airspace’ needed to be interpreted, or reinterpreted.”
Another significant but less known milestone that many people take for granted today was Michael’s approval to change the decades-old rule on portable electronic devices. The change expanded passenger use of personal phones and other technology during all phases of flight which was celebrated in 2013 by passengers everywhere.
More recently, in 2023 he was a leader on the FAA’s Safety Review Team, which was asked to examine ways to enhance safety and reliability in the nation’s air traffic system.
“I can't think of a more deserving recipient of this prestigious award than Michael Huerta,” said incoming ATCA President & CEO Stephen Creamer. “Michael led the FAA when aviation was safer than it had ever been to that point, but during a time when technology was changing our industry at incredible speed. He asked, ‘How do we ensure our airspace works for everybody who wants to use it, and how do we maintain safety without stifling innovation?’ He knew everyone at the FAA grappled with the answers to those questions every day. He wisely understood that they were working in an industry that was used to operating in black and white but, as he stated, more and more of the scenarios they dealt with were in shades of gray.
Continued Creamer: “Michael said our industry needed more risk-takers, those who would challenge the conventional wisdom, think outside the box, ask questions we were not considering, and operate in those gray areas.”
Prior to his FAA role, Huerta led the Transportation Solutions Group at Affiliated Computer Services, a company later acquired by Xerox and now known as Conduent. He was also vice president, marketing and business development at Lockheed Martin IMS, Transportation Systems and Services.
He previously served as consultant and managing director of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, preparing Salt Lake City's transportation outlets for the world stage following the tragic attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Huerta was executive director of the Port of San Francisco, held senior positions at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and was commissioner of New York City’s Department of Ports, International Trade and Commerce.
Currently, Huerta sits on the boards of Delta Air Lines, the smart transportation company Verra Mobility, and Joby Aviation, a company developing quiet, all-electric aircraft. He has also served since 2023 on the Board of Trustees for MITRE where he previously was the chair of the Aviation Advisory Committee. In 2017, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) honored him with the James L. Oberstar Sentinel of Safety Award for displaying outstanding achievement in the advancement of aviation safety. In his acceptance remarks, he told NATCA’s safety conference, “I can’t really say that I can take credit for the amazing things that we’ve accomplished because we have done so much together. Our ability to go so many years with this incredible safety record is due to the work of all of you.”
Huerta holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Riverside, and an MPA in International Relations from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
To learn more about the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award, including a list of past recipients, please visit this page here. To learn more about the trophy, please visit the National Air and Space Museum webpage here.