Metropolitan Airport News Editorial Contributors

Here’s a list of all of our authors.

Kirsten Wallerstedt

Kirsten Wallerstedt is Senior Regulatory Analyst, 3E Company, a Verisk Analytics business.1 Articles

ASAK Solutions

1 Articles

Mike Lentes

First as a Civil Air Patrol cadet – then as a pilot – Mike found that “altitude affects attitude.” With that in mind, his focus now is to interest the next generation in aviation and is founding a weekend av camp in northern Arizona for kids – Little Brothers. He is also active in his aviation business and spends time writing about its history when not hiking in the mountains.1 Articles

Craig Pieper

Craig Pieper is the Editor in Chief and Founder of Aero Crew News, and is responsible for the content, layout design, website, and organization of the material for the magazine. Most recently he founded Pilots Against Laser Strikes, LLC and is the President. He obtained his Bachelors of Science in Aeronautical Science along with a minor in Aviation Weather from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2001. Since then, he was also the founder of another company called Pieper Training Aids. Pieper Training Aids manufactured two aviation-training devices, they were known as Holding Pattern Aid and Inoperative Instrument Aid. These products can still be found in some stores across the United States. Craig has also worked as a Computer Aided Drafter and Designer in the Architecture industry for over fifteen years and continues to do so to this day. To top all of this off, Craig is also a Captain for a regional airline with a type rating in the Embraer 145 and has logged over 6,000 hours of flying time.1 Articles

Tom Betti

A Norwich University Alumni with a Masters in History, Author, and former Pan Am Passenger. “I am most honored to be a part of the Pan Am legacy. As a young boy on the upper deck of a 747 in 1991, my imagination was forever captured by this great airline. Today as a historian and storyteller, what excites me is there’s so much yet to be told. Though the six-decade history of the airline is best remembered for its numerous technical advancements in aviation and standards in luxury air travel, it is the past stories of the people at the heart of Pan Am that resonate and inspire across generations.” Board Member, Pan Am Museum Foundation Host of The Pan Am Podcast1 Articles

Aidan Charron

Aidan Charron has a Bachelor of Science in Biology, with a concentration in Tertiary and Freshwater studies with a minor in Geographic Information Systems, from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. In August 2024, Aidan was promoted to Associate Director, Global Earth Day. He will spearhead EDO’s campaign and theme in 2025, Our Power, Our Planet, backing renewable energy and calling for a tripling of clean electricity generation by 2030. Aidan is a regular speaker at industry events, manages partnerships with hundreds of sister NGOs and leads a dedicated staff focused on growing EDO’s leadership role in the environmental movement. He provides expert commentary on environmental issues to the media. Aidan has presented to multiple leading public health bodies, organizations, and government departments. Including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Health (NIH), United States Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of Interior (USDI), and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (NHHS) – to brief them specifically on the Babies Vs Plastics report. 1 Articles

Elizabeth Schuette

1 Articles

Linda Freire

Linda Freire, Pan Am Museum Chair and former Pan American World Airways employee, loved the building where she worked for 12 years. “Walking in every morning, it was like when I would go to visit the Louvre in Paris or the Vatican in Rome,” she said. Her office was in LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal. That is an elegantly proportioned building with a spacious rotunda that handled the trans-Atlantic arrivals and departures in LaGuardia’s early days.”1 Articles