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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.

Career and education

Stephen Abraham went to the private Horace Mann School in the Bronx and later to Ohio Wesleyan University. 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. He also held the roles of Vice President of NATCA from 1999 to 2008, and Facility Representative with NATCA from 2008 until his retirement. Following his retirement as an air traffic controller, he accepted a role as airside operations and ramp manager at Terminal 1 of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Nickname

YouTube channel H89SA came up with the nickname "Kennedy Steve" on 20 November 2014 when he uploaded his first video with Kennedy Steve in the title. He now has over 100 videos starring Kennedy Steve. Shortly after that the aviation community started to adopt the name, earning him the nickname "Kennedy Steve".

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.

References

1. ^ Captain Joe, CAPTAIN JOE meets KENNEDY STEVE - The interview!, retrieved 2018-12-27
2. "Stephen Abraham". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
3. Abraham, Stephen (2010-03-20). "An Air Traffic Controller Thrives on Stress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
4. "Kennedy Steve retired?". forums.liveatc.net. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
5. "Federal Aviation Administration - Retirement". Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2020-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
6. ^ "Program Notes: Stephen Abraham, Air Traffic Control: Let me explain away your delays, Gathering Room". March 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
7. ^ NATCA, CFS 2017: Dale Wright Award Presentation to Steve Abraham (JFK), retrieved 2018-12-27
8. H89SA, KENNEDY STEVE: Very fast exchange at JFK, retrieved 2018-12-28{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
10. Abraham, Stephen (2010-03-20). "An Air Traffic Controller Thrives on Stress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
11. "kennedy steve forum - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.

• Air traffic controllers
• John F. Kennedy International Airport
• 1962 births
• Living people