Safety & Security
Airlines for America Congratulates 2018 EMMC Nuts and Bolts Award Recipients
April 11, 2018
Spirit Airlines Vice President Kirk Thornburg and CAVOK General Manager David Marcontell Recognized for Outstanding Service and Achievements at MRO Americas
WASHINGTON, April 11, 2018 – Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, presented the A4A Engineering, Maintenance, and Materiel Council (EMMC) 2018 Nuts and Bolts Award at the annual MRO Americas conference held in Orlando, Fla. to two aviation industry experts: Kirk Thornburg, vice president of technical operations at Spirit Airlines, and David Marcontell, general manager at CAVOK, a division of Oliver Wyman consulting. The Nuts and Bolts Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate outstanding service and achievements in the engineering or maintenance fields within the commercial aviation industry.
Prior to CAVOK, Marcontell served multiple airlines including Delta, ABX and North-South and held leadership positions at Boeing and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Building on that multi-segment strategy, he created and led the industry’s only full service independent technical services company in North America, Team SAI, now known as CAVOK, providing engineering, programs, planning, publications, CASS support, and aircraft records management to large and small airlines.
Thornburg’s career also spans multiple airlines including Express Airlines, Northwest, AirTran, Southwest, Delta and currently Spirit. He has held key systems engineering, director and vice president roles in technical operations at each of those airlines. Over the years, Thornburg has focused on aircraft maintainability issues. He has served on FAA committees on Aging Systems Maintenance and Passenger Portable Electronic Device Expanded Usage in Flight. Kirk also served as a Senior Advisory Member to the United States Air Force’s Fleet Viability Board.
Each year since 1967, the A4A EMMC has presented the Nuts and Bolts Award to individuals who have made significant contributions over an extended period of time as airline employees or individuals from other segments of the industry.