Chair, Transportation Safety Board of Canada
Kathy Fox selected air traffic control as a career in 1974, and worked at Transport Canada control towers in Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles, Saint-Hubert and Montréal-Dorval, as well as at the Montréal Area Control Centre.
From 1982 until 1986 she was in charge of air traffic control training at the CEGEP Saint-Jean-sur- Richelieu, a cooperative training program coordinated by Transport Canada and the Quebec Ministry of Education.
Kathy left operational controlling in 1992 to accept a developmental assignment with Air Traffic Services Headquarters in Ottawa, assuming progressively senior positions. She transferred to NAV CANADA in 1996 and became Director, Safety & Quality, in 1997; then Director, Air Traffic Services, in 1999. In 2000, she was appointed Assistant Vice-President, Air Traffic Services. She became Vice-President, Operations, on April 1, 2003. As Vice-President, Operations, Kathy was responsible for providing executive leadership and direction throughout NAV CANADA’s Operations Group. She retired from NAV CANADA in June 2007.
Kathy was appointed as a Member of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada in July 2007, and became its Chair, in August 2014.
Kathy received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from McGill University. She also completed a Master of Science in Human Factors and System Safety with Lund University in Sweden.
She has been extensively involved in other aviation activities for over 40 years, including sport parachuting and commercial aviation. She holds an airline transport pilot licence and flight instructor rating and has flown over 5000 hours. Kathy is a recipient of the Fédération aéronautique internationale Paul Tissandier Diploma and the Queen Elizabeth II Anniversary Medal for her contributions to sport parachuting in Canada. She received the Transport Canada Aviation Safety Award in 1999. In November 2004, she was inducted into the Quebec Air and Space Hall of Fame. Kathy received the Elsie MacGill Northern Lights Award in 2010 and the David Charles Abramson Flight Instructor Safety Award in 2011. In June 2016, Kathy will be inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.