NBAA Presents Prestigious Silk Scarf Award to Keith Gordon

Oct 10, 2021

NBAA presented industry veteran Keith Gordon with its prestigious Silk Scarf Award in recognition of his unwavering commitment to business aviation and for his leading role in the recent Las Vegas Metroplex airspace changes.

The award was presented to Gordon, director of aviation at Las Vegas-based Flynn-Gallagher Associates/The Hangar LLC, prior to the opening of the 2021 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).

“Keith epitomizes the principles of the Silk Scarf Award,” said Heidi Williams, NBAA senior director of air traffic services and infrastructure. “He’s truly an outstanding advocate for our industry and is an inspiration to us all in the business aviation community.

“The success of the Las Vegas Metroplex initiative created a benchmark for the entire aviation sector, and that is due in no small part to Keith, who helped in the design of the new procedures and educate the local community on the Metroplex project’s many benefits,” she added. “It is an honor to present Keith with the Silk Scarf Award in recognition of this and his many other contributions to business aviation.”

The Las Vegas Metroplex initiative included 45 new or changed procedures to create better efficiencies and deconflict airspace around McCarran International Airport (LAS), Henderson Executive Airport (HND) and North Las Vegas Airport (VGT). Gordon represented NBAA as co-lead on this project, the first time a dual lead was appointed to a Metroplex initiative alongside a commercial airline.

Gordon also is a member of the Las Vegas FAA Safety Team, or FAASTeam, which helped pilots prepare for the Metroplex initiative’s widescale changes, which included entirely new procedures names.

Gordon’s passion for air traffic management was established early in his career and honed by his experience flying for several Part 91 operators and as acting director of operations and chief pilot for an island-hopping commuter airline in American Samoa.

In 2000, Gordon joined Flynn-Gallagher Associates in Las Vegas, and in this role, he began representing NBAA’s interests in airspace and procedure design, first in the Las Vegas area and then throughout the National Airspace System (NAS), in addition to flying and managing a flight department.

For more than a decade, Gordon has been an active member of NBAA’s Access Committee, including a tenure as acting chairman, and his advocacy has elevated business aviation’s access to the NAS. Gordon was an original member of the association’s Climb Via Action Team and a founding member of the Las Vegas Airspace Users’ Council. Gordon also helped develop RNAV SIDs and STARs for Henderson Executive Airport.