Joseph Del Balzo

Joseph M. Del Balzo was the President of JDA Aviation Technology Solutions for 28 years. Joe and his company have been a master a company offering a wide range of airport and airspace planning, safety, security, training and technology application support to international civil aviation clients.

A signature of this team, something about which the founder insisted, was finding solutions. The meat of aviation safety, the FARs, primarily defines what is prohibited. It requires an unusual set of skills to design a solution which both meets the exacting safety standards and provides a practical business option. Joe’s team was able to do that on a regular basis. As a career employee he was selected to serve as FAA Acting Administrator( Jan 1992 – Sep 1993) and Deputy Administrator—the highest positions in the agency and chairs normally occupied by Senate confirmation, i.e., political. His assignment was to provide a steady and constant focus on the key issues and challenges facing FAA and the aviation industry- at the highest levels. He built a clear vision of the agency’s future with FAA’s corporate team and developed a strategy for long-term change that included the development of the first FAA Operational Concept for the Year 2010.

Administrator Hinson decided that the technology efforts need a technically knowledgeable LEADER. He named Joe to be the Executive Director of System Operations where he led an organization responsible for: defining requirements for new technology; installing, operating and maintaining all air traffic control systems and facilities; operating the nation’s air traffic control system, and developing and overseeing safety regulations for all aircraft, airline and airmen in the US system. He coordinated the participation of National Airspace System users, operators and producers, in the development of FAA’s Annual Strategic Plan.

Joe’s career started at the bottom of the FAA ladder as an entry level engineer. He moved quickly up the career trail. For two years, he was the Chief Technical Advisor for the FAA stationed in Brussels, Belgium, responsible for coordination of research and development efforts between the United States and Europe, Africa and the Middle East. This work established Joe as the credible spokesman on aviation matters at high-level government-to-government and ICAO.

His first major appointment, testifying to his reputation for technical issues was as the Director of the FAA Technical Center, the research branch for all aspects of the FAA- aircraft, airport, air traffic, security and other disciplines that would benefit from laboratory analysis. where he achieved national and international recognition for the Center in areas of airport and airspace systems analysis, aircraft fire safety, electronic systems testing and pilot judgment studies.

He was a Fellow of the America Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; a former member of the Board of Directors and former Chairman of the Air Traffic Control Association; a former member of the Civil Tilt-Rotor Advisory Committee; a member of the editorial board of Air Traffic Control Quarterly, and former member of the Board of Directors of Weather Information Technologies, Inc.

Mr. Del Balzo, an instrument-rated pilot, held engineering degrees from Manhattan College and Drexel University, and an Honorary Doctor of Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He attended Princeton University on a one-year fellowship in Public Policy and International Affairs.

All of JDA is disconsolate in losing our friend, role model (in the true sense of the word) and inspirational leader