Keynote Speakers

Randy Babbitt was sworn in as the Federal Aviation Administration’s 16th Administrator on June 1, 2009. Babbitt comes to the FAA from Oliver Wyman, an international management consulting firm where he served as partner.

A veteran pilot and internationally recognized expert in aviation and labor relations, Babbitt is no stranger to the FAA. He has been a member of the agency’s Management Advisory Council since 2001. In that capacity, he provided guidance to the FAA Administrator on a variety of topics, ranging from air traffic modernization to regulatory policy. He was chairman of the council from 2004-2006.

He also was appointed by DOT Secretary Mary Peters to be a member of a special Internal Review Team to assess safety oversight within the airline industry and the FAA.

Babbitt had been the founding partner of Eclat Consulting, a highly successful aviation firm, in 2001 and was the President and CEO until Eclat was acquired by Oliver Wyman in 2007.

Babbitt began his aviation career as a pilot, flying 25 years for Eastern Airlines. He served as President and CEO for US ALPA, the world’s larg­est professional organization of airline pilots.

He was recognized by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine with the Laurels Award for outstanding achievement in the Commercial Air Transport.

Capt. Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann was named Chief Pilot, Director–Flight Training for Boeing Training and Flight Services in October of 2008. She is responsible for Flight Training operations in campuses worldwide.

Darcy-Hennemann was named chief pilot for the Boeing 777 program in January 2007. She was responsible for engineering flight-test activi­ties related to all Boeing 777 airplane models, including working with Engineering on the design requirements for future 777 derivatives. Prior to that assignment, Darcy-Hennemann served as Senior Engineering 777 Pilot. She has been an integral member of the 777 program since its inception, contributing to the design, testing and certification of the initial airplane, new deriva­tives and added features and technologies of the award-winning Boeing widebody.

Darcy-Hennemann became rated as a captain on the Boeing 747-400 in 1989, and later achieved captain status on the 737, 757, 767 and 777 jetliners (and the first captain that was a woman on the 747-400 and 777) and holds a Letter of Authorization on the 787. Previously she was also an Instructor on the 737, 757/767 747-400 and 777 as well. She joined Boeing in 1974 and spent her initial years in Engineering.

Outside of work, Darcy-Hennemann is a mem­ber of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and served as a guest speaker and participant in many industry and community forums, including: the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Seattle Branch, the GE Lecture Series at the Smithsonian, the Flight Safety Foundation Approach and Landing Accident Reduction Operations Team, and the NASA Goddard Engineering Colloquium. Darcy-Hennemann graduated from the University of Washington in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering and was named the outstanding graduate in the AA department in 1999 as well as “One of the One Hundred” for the 100th anniversary of the University of Washington. She and her husband reside in the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

Dietrich received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Aero/Astro Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She spent time at Boeing Phantom Works, where she met Terrafugia’s other co-founders, and at GE Aviation, where she was on the fast track to an upper management position, before joining Terrafugia. An accomplished multi-tasker, Dietrich is responsible for project management, human resources, accounting, public relations, as well as daily sales and marketing. With a solid engineering background and for­mal training in both Lean and Six Sigma manufacturing, Dietrich brings exceptional program management ability to the Transition® development effort.

She is providing leadership continuity and guidance through Terrafugia’s transition from a technology development com­pany to a manufacturing company. Dietrich was one of 10 women selected for the Sixth Annual Mass High Tech Women to Watch Award in 2009. She is also a private pilot.

Carol Foy of Spicewood, Texas, prefers to fly fast. Foys active interest in flying began in 1989 when her husband bought a Mooney airplane. After several flights, it occurred to her that she should learn how to land. It only took a few lessons for her to fall in love with aviation and within two years of her private certificate she had acquired her commercial, multi-engine and instrument ratings. Foy entered her first Air Race Classic (ARC), an all female cross-country air race, in 1992. A new passion was born, and in 2006, she won the 2,478 mile ARC race.

Foy also likes to land on the water as a float plane pilot and fly without an engine as glider pilot. A few years ago, she added her flight instructor’s license and multi-engine and instru­ment instructor ratings to her qualifications and left her previous profession as a landscape architect behind. Foy now introduces students to the joy of flight, is a contract pilot, lives in her hangar apartment with Molly, her brown dog, the Mooney and "Fair Lady," a newly acquired 1946 Luscombe.

CarolAnn Garratt, of Gainesville, Florida, is a former manager with a Fortune 500 company. She earned her private pilot certificate in 1978 and her instrument rating in 1980. In 1996, she completed her commercial certificate and bought a Mooney in 2000. After her mother suffered and died from ALS, she flew around the world in 2003 to raise awareness and donations for ALS. Not content to just fly, Garratt built her first plane in 2006. Today she owns and flies three different aircraft. She has over 3,700 hours and flies more than 400 hours a year including flying students with the EAA Young Eagles program, the sick and needy with Angel Flights, and instructing cadets with the Civil Air Patrol.

Garratt spent 18 months planning for her world record attempt and, with copilot Carol Foy, set out from Orlando International on December 2, 2008 to fly around the world westbound. They arrived back in Orlando after 8 days, 12 hours and 20 minutes, just 90 minutes ahead of a massive cold front that was plowing its way across Florida.

The U.S. governing body, National Aeronautics Association, certified their flight as the U.S. record in January 2009. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale certified their flight as the world record on March 16, 2009.

Garratt has written two books, and raises money for ALS through their sales.

Deborah A. P. Hersman was sworn in as the 12th Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board on July 28, 2009, following her nomination to the post by President Barack Obama and confir­mation by the United States Senate. Her two-year term as Chairman runs until July 2011. She is also serving a second five-year term as a Board Mem­ber, which expires on December 31, 2013. Chairman Hersman has been a Member of the NTSB since June 21, 2004. During her tenure at the Board, she has been the Member on the scene of 17 major transportation accidents. Before joining the Board, Chairman Hersman was a Senior Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation from 1999 to 2004 where she was responsible for a number of transportation issues, and earlier served as Staff Director and Senior Legislative Aide to Congressman Bob Wise of West Virginia.

During her time at the Senate, she was a key staff member involved in the passage of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, which created a new truck and bus safety administra­tion within the Department of Transportation. She also worked extensively to negotiate the passage of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002; the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century; the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act and numerous transportation safety and security measures.

Chairman Hersman earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and International Studies from Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and a Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She is married and is the mother of three sons.

Denise Wilson is the founder of Desert Jet, a private jet charter company based in the Palm Springs area of California. She is also the President, Chief Pilot and a captain on the company’s Citation V and Encore. She has approximately 6,000 hours of flight experience with type ratings in the Citation 500 and 525 series, Gulfstream III, Boeing 737, Westwind and the Saab 340. Wilson is qualified by the National Business Aviation As­sociation as a Certified Aviation Manager (CAM). She was also the recipient of a Women in Aviation scholarship sponsored by American Airlines in 2000, and now sponsors the Desert Jet Corporate Aviation Management scholarship offered through Women in Aviation, International. Wilson attended the University of Southern California where she majored in Music Per­formance (Oboe), and attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree and minored in Aviation Safety.

In her spare time, Wilson is an active volunteer with Lucky Star Cavalier Rescue, pro­viding transport by air for puppy mill rescues trav­elling to their new homes. She is also a member of Angel Flight West, flying volunteer missions in her Cirrus SR-22.