The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association presented its Crotti Award for distinguished service to general aviation in California to John L. Pfeifer at an AOPA Pilot Town Meeting June 6 in Santa Rosa, California.
Pfeifer has been the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) district manager for airport programs in Northern California and Nevada since 1988. His dedication to innovative airport planning and construction, including airport compliance with federal and state regulations, aviation safety, and environmental concerns, is credited with important advances in the general aviation infrastructure, a vital element of the nation's air transport system.
Presenting the award, AOPA President Phil Boyer said, "The leadership and vision John Pfeifer has demonstrated as district manager are rooted in his hands-on experience in virtually every aspect of airport development—airport engineering, planning, and safety—in his prior assignments with the San Francisco Airports District Office and the Great Lakes Regional Office. His accomplishments make him a worthy recipient of the Crotti Award."
The Crotti Award for general aviation advocacy in California is named in honor of the late Joe Crotti, longtime AOPA regional representative and, earlier, chief of the California Division of Aeronautics.
Before joining the FAA in 1972, John Pfeifer served four years in the U.S. Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a registered civil engineer in California. In 1999, he received the Washoe County Airport Authority's Outstanding Service Award, and in 1993 the Bay Area Airport Managers designated him a "King of the Bay Area Airports for Life."
Pfeifer and his wife, Kathy, have lived in Livermore since 1983.
The 370,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is the world's largest civil aviation organization. More than one half of the nation's pilots are AOPA members, as are some 46,000 California pilots.
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