Rick Dalton

About Rick Dalton

I began my aviation career over 37 years ago at Southwest Airlines. In that time, I have served in roles supporting Ground Operations, Flight Dispatch, Flight Operations, and Ops Center management. Much of my focus over the last 25 years has been on the advancement of capabilities used to manage airline network execution in the very complex environment of the National Airspace System. As an early participant in the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) organization, I was privileged to work with a broad group of aviation stakeholders on formative efforts to create much needed common situational awareness for the purpose of Air Traffic Management (ATM) through data exchange. Since 2008, I have been responsible for Southwest\'s representation on the Airlines for America Air Traffic Management Council and since 2014, have served as Southwest\'s representative on the NextGen Advisory Sub-Committee. These and many other assignments and opportunities have blessed me immensely with a wide range of professional associations and friendships, the greatest of dividends from the work we do. I reside in Texas with my extraordinary wife Robin and we are the proud parents of three children.

Experience

1. Managing Director Airspace & Air Traffic Management

   Southwest Airlines

   Mar 2023 — Present · Dallas, TX, US

Education

• The University of Texas at Arlington

  Economics/Business Administration

  1981 — 1984

Skills

• Commercial Aviation
• Avionics
• Aviation Security
• Airworthiness
• Piloting
• Airports
• Airlines
• Flight Planning
• Civil Aviation
• Aeronautics
• Air Traffic Control
• Airport Management
• Flights
• Aerospace
• Sabre
• Flight Safety
• Human Factors
• Aircraft
• Aircraft Maintenance
• Charter
• Aviation
• General Aviation
• Airline Management
• Flight Training