NATA Industry Excellence Award Recipients Continued from page 27 World Airports (LAWA), overseeing legal matters for the LAX, Ontario, Van Nuys, and Palmdale airports. At the end of his FAA appointment, Angeles returned to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office as a Senior Assistant Attorney, providing in-house legal services. Angeles said: “I’m back to my old gig now, part of a tremendous team of individuals here, and thrilled to be working on some massive and exciting multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects like our Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP), rail connectivity, and Excellence in Pilot Training Award: Denis M. Arbeau Solairus Aviation has made its “Sustainable Culture of Safety” tagline into a key part of its branding, featur- ing an IS-BAO Stage 3 certification, Wyvern Wingman status, and an ARG/US Platinum rating. Pilots there say Denis Arbeau, Manager Crew Training at the home base in Petaluma, California (and the company’s origi- nal Safety Officer), is a big part of that reputation. “Denis Arbeau is a critical mentor to hundreds of pilots, who fly more than 22,000 hours annually,” writes Marc Sehrt, Airline Transport Pilot, in the nomina- tion form for this year’s Excellence in Pilot Training Award. “His experience, performance, drive, manage- ment skills, and leadership traits are superior and define the industry standards in safety, professionalism, lead- ership, and excellence in the field of pilot training.” Arbeau believes such accolades are the reflection of a lifelong passion. “I first started teaching flying in 1978 and my entire career in aviation has been in flight instruction,” Arbeau said. “I grew up near Santa Monica Airport with airplanes coming over my house constantly; and I started riding my bike to the airport just to get a closer look at them. I got my private license when I was 17, not long after getting my driv- er’s license, and when I started taking my friends for rides, other capacity-building projects with the hopes of winning the Summer Olympics—which fulfills a long-term vision to bring people to our terminals in a more transmodal- friendly way to mitigate traffic congestion around our constantly growing airport system. We’re trying to be extremely forward-thinking in planning for the future, with the knowledge that here at LAX we can be a major player and influencer on the national scene. It’s not the FAA, but I’m still very much at the big kids’ table.” I knew—as far back as 1972—that I wanted to be a flight instructor. It’s been my passion and it’s been my life, all that time. Still, I have to say this award really took me by shock: I had no idea that people were nominating me for this behind the scenes, so it was quite a surprise when I got the call.” “I don’t necessarily think of myself as some whiz-bang teacher,” Arbeau said. “Rather, I tend to think of myself as a motivational speaker, and it’s not just that I’m in here preaching the gospel and they’re never going to hear it again. I’m the guy telling them what they’re going to hear from everybody here, because it’s a culture that is consistent Continued on page 30 Aviation Business Journal | 2nd Quarter 2017 29
