Mont Smith is an aviation safety compliance expert with 40 years of experience in military, general and commercial aviation. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut and a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Systems from the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida. He has attended the Safety Officer Certificate Course at the University of Southern California and the Crash Survival Investigator Certificate Course at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. As the prospective Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, he attended the Aviation Command Safety Course at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. After retirement from the Coast Guard as Captain, Mr. Smith flew an Emergency Medical Services helicopter for Mercy Air Hawaii for three years. Employed by Hawaiian Airlines as Senior Director, Safety and Compliance, Mr. Smith served for five years as Part 119 Director of Safety on the Operating Certificate of the air carrier during a period of rapid expansion of the airline. During his tenure, the Hawaiian Airlines Aviation Safety Action Program was successfully inaugurated.

Mr. Smith subsequently served as the Director of Safety for the Air Transport Association (now named “Airlines for America”) where he facilitated a 23-airline Safety Council, Flight Safety Committee, Ground Safety Committee, and A4A/Airline/OSHA Alliance. As a member of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, Mr. Smith contributed to the selection of CAST as a recipient of the 2008 Collier Trophy. He has received letters of appreciation from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Airline Pilots Association. Mr. Smith holds the Air Transport Pilot (ATP) rating in both Landplane/Multi-engine and Rotorcraft/Helicopter with type ratings in the Gulfstream I executive transport, Lockheed Hercules turboprop cargo aircraft, Dassault-Breguet Falcon 200 jet, and Sikorsky S-61 heavy lift helicopter.