News

Good evening, FPAW Meeting groupies.

It has already been a very busy week of FPAW announcements, with preceding messages regarding a new FPAW Co-Chair and new FPAW Steering Committee members. However, this might arguably be the most important message of them all.

The Fall 2025 FPAW Meeting page has been updated with a detailed agenda for the entire three-day meeting. Although there are still a handful of TBDs sprinkled throughout, the agenda is mostly set, in terms of time, topics and presenters/panelists. And what a great set of topics, and equally adept presenters/panelists, we have!

Do take a peek at it, and think about what you'll be missing if you're not there to take it all in IN-PERSON. Yes, I know, getting to and from Logan, Utah can be a bit of a challenge for some of us. But, the scenery, the camaraderie and the interactions will help make it all worthwhile. Have I mentioned that this will be the last FPAW meeting my colleague and friend, Matthias Steiner, will be conducting? And did I point out that the Father of FPAW, Bruce Carmichael, plans to be in Logan, Utah to help send Matthias off in style?

You'll absolutely want to be there to help with that sendoff, for sure!

So, don't wait, don't hesitate, register for the meeting, IN-PERSON, and join us in four short weeks at Campbell Scientific in beautiful Logan, UT.

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

Hello, FPAW Community.

The terms of either four or five current FPAW Steering Committee (SC) members expire on September 30th each year. This year, 2025, there are four current members whose terms are set to expire at the end of this month:

• Elizabeth Wilson/Synoptic Data (Providers)
• Joel Siegel/FAA (RED & Academics)
• John Steventon/FAA (Regulations & Standards)
• Rex Alexander/Vertical Flight Society (Users)

In addition, two current FPAW SC members voluntarily withdrew from the committee earlier in 2025:

• Marilyn Pearson/CAE (Regulations & Standards)
• Matt Johnson/Metro Aviation (Users)

Finally, current FPAW SC member Nathan Polderman/United Airlines (Users) will be transitioning to the FPAW Co-Chair position effective October 1, 2025 (see yesterday's newsletter), resulting in one more Users opening.

With the above as background, recall from an earlier newsletter that there were 11 candidates for open FPAW SC positions starting on October 1, 2025, and that voting was projected to take place early this month. We can now report that the current FPAW SC members submitted their ballots late last week into early this week, and that their votes have been tallied (no hanging chads, thank goodness).

Matthias and I are thrilled to announce that the following aviation weather enthusiasts will join (and, in one case, rejoin) the FPAW SC on October 1, 2025:

• Elizabeth Wilson/Synoptic Data (Providers)
• Scott Landolt/NCAR (RED & Academics)
• Gordy Rother/FAA (Regulations & Standards)
• Gus de Azevedo/Oklahoma State University (Regulations & Standards)
• David Dillahunt/Southwest Airlines (Users)
• Beth Welliver/Joby Aviation (Users)
• Christian Amaral/ALPA (Users)

Please join us in congratulating them and welcoming them all to the FPAW SC. The information on the FPAW web site will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all the changes listed above.

Matt Fronzak and Matthias Steiner
FPAW Co-Chairs

Dear FPAW Members,

If you have been poring over the high-level agenda for the upcoming Fall 2025 FPAW Meeting, you will undoubtedly have seen that conducting this meeting will be my friend Matthias Steiner’s final duties as FPAW Co-Chair. I will not steal my own thunder in this letter; instead, I will only say that I will miss his guidance, his wisdom, and his Swiss humor (yes, the Swiss can be humorous) very, very much.

Alexander Graham Bell is credited with coining the following phrase:
"When one door closes, another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."
For FPAW, and for me personally and professionally, I am thrilled to announce who is walking in through the open door.

Effective October 1, 2025, Nathan Polderman, Senior Manager of Meteorology, United Airlines, will join me (and Matthias for eight days) as FPAW Co-Chair (I wonder if that makes us all L-1011s, i.e., Tri-Chairs). Nathan oversees all weather decision support services and contracts for United and has been active in numerous aviation weather industry initiatives over the last 15 years, including most recently as a representative of the Users Community on the FPAW Steering Committee. He holds an M.S. degree in Atmospheric Science and is also a licensed aircraft dispatcher.

Please join me in welcoming Nathan to the helm of the finest aviation weather group in the world.

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

Greeting, FPAW enthusiasts.

Matthias and I are thrilled to announce that we have 11 outstanding aviation weather experts who are candidates for the six open FPAW SC slots, as shown in the list below: 

Providers (One 3-Year Opening)

   Jesse Heers (Campbell Scientific)

   Chris Oak (The Weather Company)

   Elizabeth Wilson (Synoptic Data) [incumbent]

RED & Academia (One 3-Year Opening)

   Tim Bonin (MIT Lincoln Laboratory)

   Scott Landolt (NCAR)

Regulators & Standards (One 3-Year Opening, One 2-Year Opening)

   Gus de Azevedo (Oklahoma State University)

   Jim Olivo (BCI SSE)

   Gordy Rother (FAA)

Users (One 3-Year Opening, One 1-Year Opening)

   Christian Amaral (ALPA)

   David Dillahunt (Southwest Airlines)

   Beth Welliver (Joby Aviation)

As a reminder, the reason we have six openings of various lengths, instead of the anticipated four 3-year openings, is because two 2024-2025 FPAW SC members had to withdraw earlier in the year due to changes in work circumstances. The two-year Regulators & Standards slot and the one-year Users slot came from this situation.

I will be creating ballots and sending candidate background materials to all FPAW SC members by the end of this week. The election will take place during the week of September 8^th, and I intend to advise the candidates, followed by you, on the results of the election no later than September 15^th.

If the fates align, maybe some of the new FPAW SC members will be at the Fall 2025 FPAW Meeting at Campbell Scientific in person. Fingers crossed!

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

Hello, aviation weather wizards. Here is an update on the upcoming FPAW Steering Committee (SC) elections.

We have 10 candidates for six openings – that is the good news. The not quite as good news is that, right now, we have only one candidate for two Regulators & Standards openings.

So, here are my questions:

• Have you ever served on and have experience with ICAO, RTCA, ASTM, SAE or EuroCAE committees that covered aviation weather topics?
• Have you ever conducted research that led to the development of aviation weather standards?
• Have you ever participated in the development of processes that have dependencies on aviation weather information?

If you can answer “Yes” to one, two or all three of these questions, you are likely qualified to represent the Regulators & Standards community on the FPAW SC. But, to get your name on the ballot, you have to provide an expression of interest email to Matthias (msteiner@ucar.edu) and me (mfronzak@mitre.org), along with a current C/V, by COB EDT this coming Friday, 8-22-25.

Please note that there are basically no restrictions on who can apply, other than you must be a Friend and Partner in Aviation Weather. You can live in France, Australia, Taiwan or Bolivia – we don’t care, as long as you’re willing to be the best advocate of aviation weather possible.

So, keep those cards and letters (AKA, emails) coming our way.

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

P.S. Spoiler alert! FPAW is in the process of taking steps to add a new class of member to the FPAW SC. If you want a hint, take a look at the makeup of the AMS Aviation, Range and Aerospace Meteorology (ARAM) committee, with which both Matthias and I are very, very familiar . 

Good evening to you, aviation weather stakeholders. (Or is it steak holders? I guess it depends on what you had for dinner. In my case, it would be meatloaf holder.)

FPAW established and elected its first Steering Committee (SC) three years ago. The final group of four inaugural FPAW SC members will be cycling off the committee on September 30th. Combining them with openings created when two of our members were (reluctantly) forced to withdraw from the FPAW SC mid-term, we will have SIX (6) available slots to be filled six weeks from now.

I have mostly good news to pass along, namely that we have (overall) more candidates than we have openings (hooray for choice!). However, when we look at the nominees from a constituency standpoint, we're still short one Regulators (and Standards and/or Policy Development) representative. So, if you feel that you have what it takes in your C/V to represent this stakeholder category, or for that matter any of the other three groups (Users, Providers, RED & Academicians), and would like to be considered for a three-year term on the FPAW SC starting on October 1, 2025, throw your name in the hat (or hat in the ring)!

Here's how you do it. You send an email to Matthias (msteiner@ucar.edu) and me (mfronzak@mitre.org) expressing your interest. Attached to the email should be a C/V. That's it. Piece of cake.

Now for the kicker. You need to do so by COB EDT Friday, August 22, 2025, so that I can get ballots prepared and sent to the current FPAW SC, who will do the selecting, in a timely manner.

OK?

Friday, August 22, 2025. Step up. Be there or be square.

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

Good evening, aviation weather enthusiasts.

More clarity has been added to the high-level agenda for the Fall 2025 FPAW Meeting. And, in just a short period of time, I anticipate that we'll have a detailed agenda posted for you to see, one that includes speakers, topics, panels, all the details.

But, don't let that be your decision point. This is going to be an absolute must-attend FPAW meeting, and preferably (for you, not for me) in-person.

So, don't wait, don't hesitate, register for the meeting here. And mark your attendance, if at all possible, in-person. You won't regret it, I promise.

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

P.S. This is three newsletters/emails in four days, clearly a record!

Hello, all.

I must say that the Fall 2025 FPAW Meeting is shaping up to be one of the best we've ever had. The meeting theme, Sensing and Observing the Atmosphere, is totally in sync with our hosts at Campbell Scientific. And the presenters and panelists, and layout and flow of the meeting, is absolutely getting me excited! We've had such great meetings over the last 12-18 months, and yet I think this one is poised to raise the bar to yet a new level!

Now, this will be a great meeting for all participants, in-person and virtual. However, it strikes me that the in-person attendees are going to afford themselves a significant bonus, through the face-to-face activities (e.g., Dirty Data Mixer, Recognizing True Aviation Weather Leadership Session, Post-Meeting Tours of Campbell Scientific and FPAW Dinner at Prodigy Brewing) that just won't be available for virtual participants.

Regardless of which way you decide to engage, register. Register. Let us know that you're planning to participate in the stimulating, educational conversations that will undoubtedly take place from October 7-9, 2025 in Logan, UT at Campbell Scientific.

Oh, did I mention that it doesn't cost anything to attend? All you have to do is get to Logan, UT and you're good to go!

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

P.S. If you want to help steer the best Aviation Weather industry group in the world, see yesterday's newsletter and throw your name in the FPAW SC nomination hat!