Viola Assumes Leadership of HAI By Gina Kvitkovich


Sets course for international growth and increased member services.


J 42 ROTOR WINTER 2020


AMES A. VIOLA ASSUMED THE LEADERSHIP of HAI on Jan. 16, 2020. As the president and CEO of the association, the seventh since its founding in 1948, Jim is responsible for carrying out the Board of Directors’ vision while overseeing


the professional staff and day-to-day operations. Jim comes to HAI after careers in the US Army, where he


first learned to fly, and the FAA. In both organizations, he rose from the ranks to positions of authority. “I like to get things done, to influence things, instead of just sitting back and saying, ‘Well, I wish that hadn’t happened,’” says Jim.


US Army and FAA Careers Jim’s first solo under powered flight may have occurred


during army flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, but he also remembers fashioning cardboard wings and jumping off his friend’s garage roof as a child. Perhaps that experience also sparked his concern for aviation safety. Jim grew up in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. After graduation,


the high school track star attended college at nearby East Stroudsburg University. While still in school, Jim enlisted in the US Army Reserves, where his experience in basic training encouraged him to enroll in the US Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Jim was an infantry officer when he saw an ad in the Army


Times looking for second lieutenants who wanted to go to flight school. He jumped at the chance. After flight school and assignments in South Korea and with the 82nd Airborne,


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