The Air Charter Safety Foundation announced the addition of two members to its Board of Governors: Richard Morris of CAE in Montreal, Canada, will replace Lou Nemeth; and Michael Wootton of Advanced Air, in Hawthorne, California, will replace Levi Stockton. This month, Morris and Wootton joined their fellow board members to help guide the rapidly expanding ACSF organization in pursuit of its aviation safety objectives.
ACSF President Bryan Burns praised the two aviation safety professionals and welcomed them to the Board. “We’re very lucky to have both Richard and Michael now serving on our Board of Governors,” he noted. “Diverse backgrounds are important, and both of them have distinguished themselves as aviation professionals with wide and exceptional knowledge of safety regulations and systems. It’s noteworthy, too, that they have a combination of airline and generation aviation experience, as well as international experience.”
Morris began his career as a flight instructor while residing in the United Kingdom. He later moved to the United States and subsequently to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he gained experience piloting a wide range of aircraft, most recently flying as a Captain on the Boeing 787 and holding Type ratings on the Airbus A320/A321. He has also piloted two other turbine aircraft and was an approved Flight Examiner, Type Rated Examiner and Type Rated Instructor. He has accumulated 13,000 hours of flight time and has held number of management and regulatory posts.
Prior to joining CAE as the Director of Global Safety, Quality Assurance and Compliance, Morris worked for Etihad Airways in the UAE for six years. While there, he was responsible for the airline’s Regulatory Affairs for Flight Operations and Operations Training. He also developed and coordinated the Compliance Management System for Etihad. Additionally, Morris was responsible for the oversight of various elements of Etihad’s safety, quality and fatigue risk management systems for the Flight Operations division. For the past two decades, he has worked in the airline, training and regulatory realms. While serving as an Aviation Safety Affairs Inspector, Morris was the General Civil Aviation Authority liaison to the International Civil Aviation Organization for Multi-Crew Pilot License training.
Morris graduated summa cum laude with a BS degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, Florida, and later earned an MBA from Capella University, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Michael Wootton serves as the Director of Operations for Advanced Air, LLC, a Part 135 air carrier providing aircraft management, on‐demand charter service and commuter air service in Southern California. Wootton is distinguished by his ability to identify, evaluate and implement process improvement initiatives, as well as his skill in mastering high levels of technical knowledge in new operational areas to help facilitate organizational growth. Throughout his career, he has helped organizations improve training processes, raise service standard levels, enhance standardization and increase operational capability, while striving to consistently create a more positive work environment. In addition, he has worked to improve organizational safety through implementation and promotion of SMS and ASAP programs.
An Air Transport Pilot with type ratings in six turbine aircraft, Wootton has accumulated 7,400 hours of flight time. He has served as a line pilot in Part 135 passenger, cargo, commuter and 91K fractional operations at NetJets, Basin Aviation, and Sierra West Airlines. Serving in a number of leadership roles, Wootton has been a company flight instructor, Check Airman, Chief Pilot and Director of Operations.
Wootton earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminology from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, in Odessa, Texas. He also participates in a noise committee working group with several industry peers, community leaders and government regulators.
