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NATCA created the Sentinel of Safety Award as a way to honor aviation leaders outside NATCA who have displayed outstanding achievement in the advancement of aviation safety. The award is presented annually at NATCA’s Communicating for Safety conference.
On Oct. 2, 2014, at the Minneapolis Convention, NATCA proudly renamed the award to honor Congressman Jim Oberstar, who was a tireless advocate for aviation, air traffic control, and NATCA during his tenure in Congress and as the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Congressman Oberstar died on May 3, 2014, just a few weeks before NATCA in Washington, the event he supported and attended for many years, and at which in 2005 he was awarded the first Sentinel of Safety Award.
Congressman Oberstar didn’t just talk about unions or work with unions. He WAS union. He once famously told a gathering of NATCA members that the National Airspace System and aviation safety was “in your hands. Good hands. Great hands. Great minds. Great people. NATCA people.”
NATCA welcomed the late Congressman’s wife, Jean, to Minneapolis at the 2014 Convention to honor his commitment to safety and to NATCA. She is pictured at right with (left to right) NATCA President Paul Rinaldi, former Executive Vice President Dr. Ruth Stilwell, former President John Carr, and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert.
NATCA presented the James L. Oberstar Sentinel of Safety Award to senators Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Richard Durbin (Ill.) on Monday, May 4, 2026 at NATCA in Washington. This honor is the Union’s highest recognition for individuals outside […]
NATCA President Nick Daniels honored U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, with our Union’s James L. Oberstar Sentinel […]
Today at #NATCACFS 2023, NATCA President Rich Santa and Executive Vice President Andrew LeBovidge presented NATCA’s great friend and former Air Force Thunderbirds commander Richard McSpadden, now the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Air Safety […]
Please click here to learn more about the 2018 Sentinel of Safety Award winner, Gordon Graham, who was honored during NATCA’s 2018 Communicating For Safety conference in Las Vegas on Oct. 23, 2018.
NATCA Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert, RTCA President Margaret Jenny, and NATCA President Paul Rinaldi. NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert presented the James L. Oberstar Sentinel of Safety Award to RTCA […]
NATCA created the Sentinel of Safety Award as a way to honor aviation leaders outside NATCA who have displayed outstanding achievement in the advancement of aviation safety. The award is presented annually at NATCA’s Communicating for […]
