Airlines for America announces 2021 Nuts and Bolts Award recipients

• 2021 A4A Engineering, Maintenance and Materiel Council (EMMC) Nuts and Bolts Award presented
• Awards were presented during the Aviation Week Network’s MRO Americans virtual conference
• FedEx’s Manager of Regulatory Compliance/FAA and Boeing’s Director of Engineering for Customer Support were award recipients

Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, has announced the 55^th annual A4A Engineering, Maintenance and Materiel Council (EMMC) Nuts and Bolts Award to FedEx‘s Manager of Regulatory Compliance/FAA Bill Williams and Boeing‘s Director of Engineering for Customer Support Sergio Bustamante.

The Nuts and Bolts Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate outstanding service and achievements in the engineering or maintenance fields within the commercial aviation industry. The awards were presented today during the Aviation Week Network’s MRO Americans virtual conference.

Bill Williams

Williams has been a member of the QA team at FedEx for more than 20 years, working as manager for surveillance at Heavy Maintenance locations and manager of the Airworthiness Directive Control Group (ADCG). He began his career with the US Air Force as a jet engine mechanic, later moving to Cessna Aircraft, America West Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines. Bill has been a primary contributing author of multiple FAA Advisory Circulars and was a member of the Aviation Rulemaking Committee on Airworthiness Directive implementation including several important follow-on activities.

Sergio Bustamante

Bustamante made his mark when, in his new role as Fleet Chief for the B737 fleet, the world aviation industry was sent into shock waves over two 737 MAX accidents. Opening lines of communication with the world’s operators, he led dozens of meetings with airlines maintaining a continuous flow of new and updated information. His leadership throughout the grounding was exemplary, never shying away from bringing up uncomfortable discussion points from Boeing’s viewpoint and was honest and forthright throughout the grounding. He earned a worldwide following of peers during a once-in-a-lifetime event.