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William Ayer began his career as a salesperson with the Piper Aircraft Company. After starting Air Olympia, a regional airline in Washington state, in 1981, Ayer joined Horizon Air in 1982. Horizon became a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines in 1986 and he was named chief executive officer of the parent company in 2002. He retired from the company at the end of 2013.

Ayer is the chairperson of the FAA’s Safety Oversight and Certification Advisory Committee. He formerly served on the FAA’s Management Advisory Council and chaired the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee. In addition to Honeywell, he serves on the boards of the University of Washington, the Museum of Flight and AOPA.

Ayer holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Washington. Ayer started flying at the age of 15 and has accumulated more than 4,500 hours of flight time.