During his 33 years in aviation consulting, most of it with R. Dixon Speas Associates and its predecessor firms, Mr. Conte has managed and participated in over 400 projects for airlines, business aircraft operators, equipment manufacturers and airports. These assignments have involved operations improvement, maintenance management, technical and operational safety audits, aircraft fleet planning, development of manuals and procedures (operations, maintenance and administrative), management and staffing reviews, and facility planning and analysis. Mr. Conte has also performed market research, aircraft appraisals and future value projections, airport and heliport planning reviews, landing aid and aircraft operational analyses, and air traffic control reviews. He is an Accredited IS-BAO Auditor.

As the Senior Vice President for a major aviation consulting organization, responsible for all the firm’s business aviation activities, Mr. Conte reviewed and audited the flight operations and maintenance aspects of the company’s aircraft management business, which included approximately fifty jet aircraft.

As Vice President for a major aviation planning and consulting firm, he oversaw commercial and general aviation analysis and airport planning in the northeastern US, Europe and Africa. His experience encompassed airport operations and capacity, air traffic control, facility planning, and management reviews.

As a transportation engineer with a major aerospace firm, he participated in the development of an airport capacity handbook that was the authoritative source in the industry for ten years.

Examples of significant projects he has completed during his 33-year career include the following:

• Managed the overhaul and redesign of the airport operations control center at the principal hub of a major US airline. Developed detailed procedures for all aspects of the airline’s operations at the airport.

• Managed and participated in safety audits and operational reviews of six major US airlines, a regional carrier and two foreign airlines covering all aspects of management, flight operations and maintenance.

• Managed and participated in over four hundred audits of business aircraft and air ambulance operations in the US and abroad. These audits included all aspects of management, flight operations, and maintenance.

• Assisted a US airline to develop, obtain FAA approval for, and implement an ETOPS program for B767 aircraft.

• Managed the audit and analysis of a major US airline's internal audit program, including Flight Operations, Maintenance and Engineering, Flight Dispatch, In-Flight Cabin, and Ground/Ramp Operations.

• Conducted a diagnostic review of line and heavy maintenance programs of a major US carrier with the objective of detecting and correcting situations that contributed to flight delays and cancellations.

• Participated in the development, implementation, and FAA approval process of a complete Inspection and Maintenance Program covering a fleet of B-727-200 aircraft for a FAR Part 121 airline.

• Managed and participated in eight market research and forecasting projects for existing and proposed jet and turboprop aircraft targeted at the business aviation market.

• Assisted a foreign airline in obtaining a FAR Part 129 Operating Certificate. Participated in the development of the General Maintenance Manual (GMM), Minimum Equipment List (MEL), and complete Inspection and Maintenance Program for its DC-10 aircraft.

• Served as a consultant to the US Bankruptcy Court in the physical evaluation, review of maintenance status, and appraisal of a fleet of approximately two-hundred aircraft operated by a FAR Part 121 US airline.

• Analyzed airline service contract conditions, including aircraft maintenance, passenger service, aircraft fueling, and other accommodations as undertaken by major airlines for smaller domestic and international carriers.

• Provided expert testimony to a US Federal Court regarding the physical condition of a fleet of aircraft operated by a major US FAR 121 airline.

• Directed and participated in the development of over 100 airport master plans in the US, Europe and Mexico.

• Participated in the design and development of detailed aviation plans for ten states and two countries and urban area aviation systems plans for six large US cities.

• Analyzed air traffic flow patterns at the 23 busiest airports in the US for a DOT/FAA research project. The project goal was to identify optimum procedures for noise abatement.

• Reviewed air traffic control procedures for several major international airlines as they related to fuel consumption.

• Conducted air traffic and air space flow design studies for more than a dozen major US, European, Asian and South American airports.

Mr. Conte earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Manhattan College and studied in the Masters Program in Urban and Transportation Planning at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.