Avery Katz

Avery discovered his passion for aviation at just 14 years old when he attended an aviation summer camp and logged his first hours of dual in a Cessna 172. From there, he knew he had caught the aviation bug and soloed the day after his 16th birthday.

Beginning in 2015, he studied Homeland Security with a minor in Aviation Safety and a focus in Aviation Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach. During his time at ERAU, Avery took an interest in aviation safety and chaired the flight department's Aviation Safety Advisory Council until his graduation in 2019. He also served as a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, earning the Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship in 2018 for his research in jump plane safety.

During his time at ERAU, Avery began dropping skydivers out of two modified C182 aircraft in southeast Georgia to build flight time. A skydiver himself, he would earn his D license, coach rating, and Tandem Instructor Rating on Strong Enterprises tandem systems.

In 2018, Avery took a short hiatus from his studies and moved to Washington, DC where he served as an intern with the Congressional Subcommittee on Aviation. He played an active role in developing the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, providing technical advice on rules and regulations.

Upon graduating ERAU, Avery began working as a first officer for Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines on the Cessna 402. Over 3 years, he would upgrade to PIC and subsequently Captain. He held multiple leadership roles with the pilot union, including chair of safety and ASAP, where he would serve as a voting member on the Event Review Committee.

After leaving Cape Air, Avery joined Amerijet International where he served as a First Officer on the 757/767. Here, he transported cargo throughout North and South America, Europe, and Africa. During his time at Amerijet, he completed his Masters Degree in Fire and Emergency Sciences from the University of Florida which included his thesis, “The Efficacy of Relationships Between the NTSB and Law Enforcement Agencies.”

Following over a year at Amerijet, Avery began at JetBlue where he is typed on the Airbus A320/321. His duties have included transatlantic flying and most recently red line qualifications for special use airports in South America.

Avery is ready to put his regulatory, legislative, and flight operations experience to work for you!

Jeff has a long background in national security dating back to his service in the United States Army as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist. Here, he liaised with foreign nationals and senior commissioned officers to identify and dispose of ordnance through various destruction operations. This included experience with advanced robotics and numerous hazardous materials.

After his time in the military, Jeff returned to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he earned his Bachelors Degree in Homeland Security. His thesis, “AIS Prediction to Increase Message Authenticity and Reduce Spoofing,” utilized data to derive models for current and expected ship positioning. Additionally, it worked to develop hardware and software to derive check sums based on ship positions and studied the use of public encryption standards to transmit data between AIS devices to ensure increased authenticity and reduce potential for erroneous messages.

Upon graduating, Jeff spent three years as a UAS pilot and sensor operator for System Dynamics International and Delmar Aerospace. Here, he utilized, maintained, and calibrated multi-spectral payloads and electronic warfare packages, in addition to his flight assignments in support of USSOCOM missions. While in this role, his team maintained the highest in country percentage of uptimes throughout their missions.

Beginning in 2021, Jeff joined the Boeing Company where he currently serves as a product security analyst. Here he works to maintain the highest level of security and resiliency for flight computers on the 737 line of aircraft through data collection, risk/attack and surface/vulnerability analyses, and security audits. His work aims to report relevant product security and anti-tamper data to identify attack indicators and potential security breaches. This role requires an in depth understanding of regulatory and certification standards for aircraft in Boeing’s product line.