Story ID: 
Mike France To Depart NATA
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Mike France, who steered regulatory affairs and then safety and training for NATA, is taking a new role with Magpie Human Safety Systems.
Word Count: 231
Mike France, who joined the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) as director of regulatory affairs and later served as managing director of safety and training, is leaving the association after 13 years.

France has accepted a position with Magpie Human Safety Systems, which provides a range of safety, training, organizational culture, systems analysis, and other services for the aviation, oil and gas, and healthcare industries.

Under France’s direction, the association’s Safety 1st team launched an extensive knowledge base and support center providing services and information on an array of safety, training, and guidance, NATA said. He also oversaw the development of the Safety 1st Clean standard in response to the Covid-19 crisis. NATA further noted that among his other efforts, he helped advocate for changes to hangar foam fire protection standards and fought to protect flight training programs and students from burdensome state requirements and predatory practices.

NATA president and CEO Timothy Obitts called France “a visionary—always thinking ahead when it comes to setting and then raising the bar for aviation businesses,” and added, “Mike’s work has built a solid foundation for the association to continue to grow and expand our industry-standard training and education programs.”

NATA, meanwhile, has brought long-time FAA official Keith DeBerry on board in a full-time capacity as senior v-p of safety and education.