Laura Benson Jones was recently appointed to the Louisville Regional Airport Authority Board by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. Ms. Benson Jones will serve a four-year term through July 2028. The Louisville Regional Airport Authority owns, operates and develops the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) and Bowman Field (LOU).
Ms. Benson Jones is a seasoned aviation professional with more than 35 years of experience and 15,000-plus hours of flight time in a wide-array of aircraft. She is currently the Vice President of Membership and Committees at the National Flight Training Alliance in Washington, D.C., where she focuses on advocacy and improving overall aviation safety training, emphasizing improvements in pilot training regulatory environments.
Most recently, Ms. Benson Jones has served as the Founder and Executive Board Member of the youth-run and not-for-profit organization, Flight Club 502 based at Bowman Field. Since 2015, nearly 6,000 youth have benefitted from its programs that promote STEM education through aviation. She also founded Cardinal Wings, Inc. in 1992 that grew to the largest flight training provider in the Southern region.
In addition to her role with the Airport Authority, Ms. Benson Jones has been an active member on various boards and committees including the U.S. Department of Transportation Women in Aviation Advisory Board, General Aviation Manufacturers Association and the National Air Transportation Association. She has been honored twice by the FAA with both their Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year Award and Flight Instructor of the Year Award, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s GA TEAM 2000 Award, the Challenger Center’s Challenger Space Legacy Award and honored by the Experimental Aircraft Association as their Aviation Humanitarian of the Year.
Ms. Benson Jones earned a Bachelor of Science in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida and graduate degrees in Technical Education and Instructional Technology from the University of Louisville. She currently resides in Louisville and enjoys spending time with her husband and three sons.
