Jim Sturgis — Managing Director of Quality, Programs and Maintenance Safety at Southwest Airlines

Mr. Jim Sturgis has been Managing Director of Quality, Programs and Maintenance Safety of Southwest Airlines Co. since April 02, 2012. Mr. Sturgis provides Leadership for the Quality Assurance, Aircraft Programs and Maintenance Safety Teams and the liaison and point of contact with the FAA concerning all regulatory affairs relative to Southwest Maintenance. He joined Southwest Airlines in April 02, 2012 from CAVO. Mr. Sturgis was Co-founder of the CAVOK Group, Inc. and served as its Principal and Co-President. Mr. Sturgis has Over 20 years experience in the aviation industry and consulting services with a focus on air carrier operation and maintenance practices. He also has an Extensive operational and regulatory experience related to air carrier certification, mergers and acquisitions. He has a long history of successfully guiding airlines through the complexities of regulatory issues and has been a key advisor to Southwest during its integration with AirTran. He has assisted air carriers; Maintenance, Repair and Overhauls (MROs); and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) with inducting new fleets into their operations, implementing new processes and designing and implementing Safety Management Systems. He also has led numerous merger/acquisition activities from a regulatory perspective, including the three largest in U.S. aviation history. Sturgis has held senior leadership positions in technical services, maintenance training, technical publications, flight operations and flight crew training at various commercial airlines.