GAMA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- General Counsel and Director, Safety and Regulatory Affairs
Before joining GAMA, Alex Burkett served as Staff Director and Special Advisor on Aviation Safety for the U.S. House Aviation Subcommittee. In that capacity, he advised the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman as well as the Aviation Subcommittee chairman on innumerable issues involving aviation policy. He was the principal author of the House version of legislation that prevented airline bankruptcies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing grants for their labor costs, as well as safety legislation responding to two major air carrier accidents. He also was involved in enactment of the 2010 aviation safety legislation responding to an earlier air carrier accident, and ultimately oversaw the FAA's implementation of all the mandates under that legislation.
On an almost daily basis, he conducted oversight of the Federal Aviation Administration's aviation safety regulation, air traffic control modernization, and preparations to accommodate new entrants in the aviation system. In partnership with general aviation and other concerned stakeholders, he orchestrated, on behalf of the T&I Committee's Democratic leader, a successful effort to defeat a proposal to privatize the nation's air traffic control system from 2015-18.
He joined the Aviation Subcommittee staff as Counsel in 2010 and served in various capacities including Chief Counsel for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He also worked as an attorney at the National Transportation Safety Board, advising aviation safety investigators and NTSB members on legal issues related to accident investigations, including those of numerous general aviation aircraft as well as several air carrier accidents.
On top of this experience, he worked in regulatory compliance at United Airlines, advising stakeholders across the airline on numerous safety and consumer-protection matters governed under FAA and Department of Transportation regulations.
Alex is a private pilot who started flying as a fifth grader in the mountains of Northwest Georgia.
He received his bachelor's degree cum laude from Vanderbilt University and his law degree magna cum laude from the Florida State University College of Law.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Government Affairs
U.S. President Bill Clinton signs into law the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA), which established a time limit for general aviation manufacturers' liability on aircraft with 19 or fewer seats. GARA led to new product development and thousands of new jobs among U.S. general aviation manufacturers.
Job Titles:
- Director, Meetings & Membership Services
Job Titles:
- European Leader Steering Committee
Job Titles:
- Director, European Safety and Sustainability Development
Job Titles:
- Director, Global Innovation and Policy
Ed Bolen becomes GAMA's President. Bolen previously worked as GAMA's Senior Vice President and General Counsel.
GAMA Chairman Frank E. Hedrick, left, of Beech meets with U.S. President Gerald R. Ford to thank him for recognizing the significance of general aviation in air transportation. Throughout its history, GAMA has advocated the interests of general aviation manufacturers to top policy and regulatory leaders.
President George W. Bush signs into law the Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act in November. The bill contains important provisions for general aviation, including authorization of certification of design organizations (CDO), protection from the unauthorized use of type certificates, the return of general aviation operations to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, and a change in responsibility for conducting background checks on aliens seeking flight training from the U.S. Department of Justice to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. Photo of Ronald Reagan National Airport courtesy of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Operations
Job Titles:
- Manager, Regulatory Affairs - Europe
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Airworthiness & Regulatory Affairs
Job Titles:
- Vice President, European Affairs
Job Titles:
- Director, Internal Operations
Job Titles:
- Director, Government Affairs
Job Titles:
- Manager, Meetings and Member Engagement
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Government Affairs
GAMA President & CEO, Pete Bunce, talks about the US President's Budget for FY 2025 and its impacts on GA workforce, safety, & sustainability. Read his statement at bit.
In April 2005, Peter (Pete) Bunce became President and CEO of GAMA, which has North American headquarters in Washington, D.C. and European/Middle East headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. He and the GAMA staff travel worldwide engaging regulators, policymakers, and elected officials to promote general aviation and advance the interests of GAMA's global membership of more than 140 airframe, avionics, engine, and component manufacturers, as well as the world's leading business aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul companies.
Pete retired from the United States Air Force in March 2005, with his last assignment as the Director of the Air Force Congressional Budget and Appropriations Liaison. During his 26-year Air Force career, Pete flew F-15s and A-10s, while commanding several large operational fighter units.
A Wisconsin native, Pete learned to fly as a teenager in the skies over southern Wisconsin. He entered the Air Force in 1979 as an honor graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He received his master's degree in International Affairs from Troy University in 1988 and was an International Affairs Fellow at Harvard University in 1996-97.
Pete is an active pilot with more than 7,500 hours in military fighter and training aircraft as well as civil piston, turboprop, and business jet aircraft. He holds an FAA airline transport certificate and seaplane rating, and serves on the board of directors of the Recreational Aviation Foundation, Veterans Airlift Command, and a trustee of the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation. Pete is also a member of Federal Aviation Administration's 13-member Management Advisory Council (MAC). Additionally, Pete serves as both the FAA's NextGen Advisory Committee, MITRE Corporation's Aviation Advisory Committee and the NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee.
Peter J. Bunce is named GAMA's President and CEO. A 26-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Bunce most recently served as Director of the Air Force Congressional Budget and Appropriations Liaison. An active pilot, he has more than 7,000 hours in military fighter and training aircraft, as well as civil piston, turboprop, and business jet aircraft.
Job Titles:
- Director, European Government Affairs
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Engineering & Maintenance
GAMA member Wisk Aero displayed its sixth-generation autonomous electric aircraft at Heli-Expo 2024 in Anaheim, California, giving showgoers a glimpse into the future of vertical flight. Read more at verticalmag.com/news/wisk-brings-future-of-vertical-flight-to-heli-expo/ ...
Job Titles:
- Specialist, Airworthiness and Regulatory