Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ's superintendent of the skies
by J. Besl |
![](/news/archive/2018/02/_images/180216-JEREMY-WORRALL-JRE-0014-597x400.jpg)
UAA Aviation Management alumnus Jeremy Worrall, photographed at the Aviation Technology Complex at Merrill Field during a visit to Anchorage. Worrall is the Statewide Airport Operations Superintendent for the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Department of Transportation. (Photo by James Evans / Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ)
In most places, Americans can commute by road, rail, or even the second airport on the other side of town. Options like that, though, are rarely available in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ, where aviation is the most important (and often the only) source of transportation.
"The term that gets thrown around a lot is lifeline. That is aviation in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ," said Jeremy Worrall, B.S. Aviation Technology '02, who works as statewide airport operations superintendent for the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Department of Transportation (DOT).
"Every day, every person in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ is impacted in some way by [aviation], whether they feel it or see it or not," he added. "It's not just recreation. It's not just business. It's everyday life."
Safety and security
Jeremy grew up in Anchorage, where one in 10 jobs - - is tied directly to the airport. "I always had a love for aviation," he said. He earned his private pilot certificate in high school and enrolled at UAA specifically for its aviation management program.
Though the curriculum prepared him for a career in any location, his professors brought specific Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ expertise. One professor was an airport director for Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ DOT. Others had careers as bush pilots and rural operators.
"There was a lot of Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ focus, and professors with tremendous industry experience. People like Paul Bowers, Leonard Kirk, Mark Madden and Ron Haney," Jeremy said. "That piece of the program was very beneficial."
As a lifelong Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æn, he reluctantly headed Outside after graduation to start his career (despite its hundreds of airports, there are few entry-level management jobs in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ, which Jeremy hopes will change over time). He first gained experience in airport operations in South Bend, Indiana, then in San Jose, California. Along the way, he earned an M.B.A. from Arizona State University.
Jeremy returned to Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ in 2005 to work for the state DOT. In the Lower 48, most airports are under the control of a city, county or local government body, but in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ - with small communities scattered across a massive area - nearly every commercial-service airport is managed by the state.
Based in Juneau, Jeremy worked as a regional airport safety and security officer, focused on operation issues and regulatory compliance for the Southeast region's five FAA-certified airports.
In January 2016, DOT promoted Jeremy to statewide superintendent. Now based in Fairbanks, he oversees the state's three regional safety and security officers (including his former post in Juneau) and manages regulatory compliance for all 19 rural airports certified by the FAA for large air carrier operations.
Jeremy's statewide aviation team looks for the most effective and efficient ways to comply with federal regulations while balancing the realities of limited staff, equipment, budgets and other resources. The small but dedicated staff at DOT's remote airports meanwhile keeps Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ moving by clearing snow in winter, painting runway markings in summer, performing aircraft rescue firefighting, inspecting runways for hazards and completing a myriad of other critical tasks that go on in the background at FAA-certified airports.
Overall, it's an extremely complex and unique system, requiring serious aviation expertise (and, occasionally, the need to coax a ).
Challenges and opportunities
Outside of work, Jeremy's life still revolves around the industry. He's accredited under the American Association of Airport Executives and co-chairs the group's UAS (drone) working group, which occasionally brings him to meetings in Washington, D.C. Much closer to home, he works with an , encouraging teenagers to pursue aviation careers through site visits, internships and industry connections. He participates in the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce transportation and infrastructure committee and is president-elect of his local Rotary Club. In 2017, he received the Aviation Excellence Award from the Northwest Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives.
Amid all that, Jeremy's also happy to be making the most of Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ. Along with his wife and their six kids, they squeeze in as much hiking, biking, rafting, ice fishing, hunting and skiing as they can.
He clearly loves Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ, and he hopes to encourage more homegrown kids to pursue careers in a that's vital to the state.
"We have a tremendous challenges in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ," he noted, "but we also have many opportunities. Aviation is very unique in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ and it's very important. Because of that, it's really valuable work.
"There are a lot of opportunities to have a positive impact and do work that matters."
Written by J. Besl, UAA Office of University Advancement