Kennedy Steve

Stephen Abraham, also known as Kennedy Steve (born August 16, 1962), is a former air traffic controller at John F. Kennedy International Airport who was awarded the Dale Wright Award. He is known for his more "casual" ATC conversations with pilots while working as a ground controller. After he completed his study he became an institutional fixed-income salesman on Wall Street. He hated the job and quit, thinking of becoming a pilot. However, he felt like he was too old to try, so he took the rigorous test for the job of air traffic controller. After he was hired he went to Oklahoma City for training. After his training he started in 1990 at Teterboro Airport, New Jersey, and worked there for four years.
Abraham started working at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in 1994 and continued there until his retirement on 1 September 2017, when he reached the mandatory retirement age. During his tenure at JFK, he also acted as a subject matter expert for the National Transportation Safety Board, and participated in multiple investigations, often as a representative of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) Air Safety Committee.
Media appearances
Kennedy Steve appeared in many ATC recording clips on YouTube, and in late 2018 the first video interview with Kennedy Steve was published. He also appeared in The New York Times and was talked about on several internet forums.
Awards
In 2017 Stephen Abraham won the Dale Wright Award from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association for distinguished professionalism and exceptional career service to the NATCA and National Air Space System.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu