Washington, DC, November 20, 2023 – RTCA, Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors has named Ms. Carol Huegel as the next President and Chief Executive Officer. She will continue RTCA’s commitment to safer skies through collaboration and support of emerging trends in aerospace with the development of performance-based standards that serve as a basis for certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and other aviation regulators around the world.

Ms. Huegel will join RTCA in December, succeeding Terry McVenes, who will retire in January of 2024 after 5 years of distinguished service to RTCA, and an aviation career spanning four decades.

“In selecting Carol Huegel, we have chosen a proven aviation leader with a deep understanding of air traffic management and the significant role of RTCA in ensuring the safety of the evolving national airspace system as we look toward the integration of legacy and future users”, said Lorne Cass, Chairman of the Board for RTCA and President of AeroNowGen Solutions. Cass further remarked, “The Board has worked with Carol as a member of the Advisory Board and more recently as Vice Chair of the Board and is confident she will lead the organization to new heights, fostering collaboration and innovation within the aviation community.”

Huegel joins RTCA with 30+ years of service to ANSPs and aircraft and airport operators around the globe. She launched her aviation career as a software engineer at ARINC, where she was first introduced to RTCA. She has since held positions at Metron Aviation, where she was Senior VP Business Development, Advanced Research and Engineering Development, and American Airlines where she was Managing Director Air Traffic and Surface Management Strategy. Most recently she supported L3Harris and the Mission Networks partnership with the FAA. Throughout her career, she has been instrumental in stakeholder collaborative efforts that improve safety and efficiency, among them ‘Surface CDM’ in the U.S. and ‘Airport CDM’ in Europe. She understands the critical importance of collaboration and consensus in the development of aviation standards.

Huegel expressed “I am deeply honored to take the baton from Terry and serve as the next leader of such an exceptional team. RTCA’s rich history of fostering innovation, collaboration, and a culture of continuous improvement will be increasingly important as the industry embraces a future transportation ecosystem that features advanced technologies and business models while upholding the highest standards of safety and excellence in aviation.”

About RTCA

RTCA, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that serves the catalyst for aviation collaboration and consensus-based modernization of the air traffic management system. RTCA and its aviation community volunteers develop recommendations for standards and guidance for aviation systems and equipment and policies and investment priorities for operational capabilities that improve aviation safety, capacity, and efficiency. RTCA recommendations are used by the FAA as the basis for policy, program, and regulatory decisions and by the private sector as the basis for development, investment and other business decisions.