SEPTEMBER 2025 | West Coast Region Newsletter

WEST COAST: Are you looking for a wine country vacation that is off the beaten path? If you are, you might enjoy a vacation in Willamette Valley, Oregon. The area is known for its family-owned wineries and amazing hospitality. Let us look at what makes this area of Oregon so amazing for travelers.

WASHINGTON, DC: National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen commended the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) recent publication of a Request for Solutions (RFS), in which the agency solicits a prime integrator to manage the development and implementation of a modernized air traffic control (ATC) system. “NBAA applauds the FAA’s important next step to move forward with air traffic control modernization,” said Bolen. “We support efforts to streamline procurement and drive results to meet the three-to-four-year goal. This Request for Solutions is a key step toward modernizing the National Airspace System (NAS) on schedule.” The FAA outlines a three-pillar strategy to aviation safety: continuously optimizing national airspace design and technology; modernizing NAS infrastructure, telecommunication, surveillance, automation and facilities; and fully staffing and equipping the best people for the mission. The agency says these three pillars will result in safety, reliability, agility and scalability of the NAS. The Performance Work Statement (PWS) in the RFS describes the role, responsibilities and tasks of the prime integrator. The RFS also includes instructions for submitting a proposal and criteria by which the agency will evaluate proposals and Integrator accountability terms. The FAA will respond to questions about the RFS on a rolling basis on Sept. 9, 16 and 19, and plans to select the prime integrator on or around Oct. 31. Details are available in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

GLOBAL: Amelia Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937. This year is the 88th anniversary of her pioneering flight around the world with Fred Noonan. Unfortunately, it ended with Amelia and Fred’s disappearance over the Pacific Ocean. Amelia’s goal was to become the first woman to fly around the world, and if she had succeeded, she also would have been the first person to fly 29,000 miles around the world. Let’s explore Amelia’s adventurous flight and what’s happening in 2025 that could find her plane and solve the mystery.

GLOBAL: True Unsung Heroes of Modern Aviation - If someone said to you in an off-the-cuff way, “Let’s chat about aircraft hangars for the next few minutes,” you would probably quickly devise an urgent excuse to break away from the conversation. But first consider this. Hangars are far more than just overgrown parking garages with high ceilings; they are really the true unsung heroes of modern aviation. Without these rugged protective structures, aircraft would be parked outside in the elements like awkwardly large, winged wonders with no place to call home, getting snowed upon, toasted by the blistering sun, and wind-whipped like a plastic toy trapped within a hurricane.