Against the Wind - National Air Traffic Controllers Association

Adell
Humphreys
Director of
Administration
niC k n a m e : Adelli
1992 — Pr e s e n t
HO m e t O w n : Quantico, Virginia
Ot Her tr i v i a:
Attended more National Execu-
tive Board meetings than anyone in
NATCA
in t e r e s t s:
Peter Cutts
Quilting, sewing, gourmet cooking,
music
NATCA FACiliTies
Cu r r e n t:
pr e v i O u s:
NO National Office
While the National Executive Board is in flux
every three years and has evolved through
five administrations, one of the few constants
at headquarters is Adell Humphreys. Officially
known as the union’s director of administration,
her professional touch graces everything from the
prosaic to the strategic.
Humphreys learned about the nuances of air
traffic controllers when she worked for PATCO’s
director of operations. More than a decade later,
NATCA astutely grasped the benefits of her skills
and knowledge. “Adell’s qualifications were outstanding,”
former Executive Vice President Ray
Spickler says.
With lightning-fast fingers, Humphreys
has documented the deliberations at monthly
NEB meetings since 1990. As the union grew, her
responsibilities did, too. They were secretarial in
nature at first—she earned the nickname “Adelli”
for faithfully ordering in lunch at NEB gatherings—but
Humphreys deftly demonstrated her
ability to manage executive affairs.
She has coordinated schedules for all of
NATCA’s presidents, from the era of Day-Timers
to the latest PalmPilot. Convention delegates vote
on which cities to hold the union’s biennial gatherings,
but Humphreys oversees the selection of hotel
and meeting sites.
And she inherited the “title” of landlord
with the purchase of the Krasner Building in
2000, supervising initial renovations and ongoing
Pr e v i o u s NATCA Po s iT i oN s / AC h i e v e m e N T s
Received the Barry Krasner Award for Distinguished
Service, presented by New York TRACON,
in 2000.
hir e d
May
1990
maintenance.
Juggling the move to the new headquarters
while preparing for the Anchorage convention
made the first three months of 2000 a chaotic time
for Humphreys. Yet she handled the additional
workload like a veteran controller expertly reeling
in planes during an arrival rush. Little wonder,
perhaps, given that she devotes much of her life to
NATCA.
She considers the union her family—aside
from doting on two nieces, Ashley and Kendall.
The lasting association contrasts with a
childhood marked by fleeting friendships as Humphreys
moved among various Marine Corps bases
across the country, a time when playing the flute
and violin cultivated an early love of music. These
days, her tastes favor Bruce Springsteen, who she
believes “is truly the king of all music.”
The union has even benefited from her
primary recreational passion. In 1998, she lovingly
quilted an attractive potpourri of sixty-two NAT-
CA logos taken from various shirts. Controllers
contributed several thousand dollars to a Political
Action Fund raffle for the privilege of owning the
quilt, which now hangs in the local union office at
Oakland Center.
Other wall-sized quilts grace Humphreys’ office
at headquarters, along with the Barry Krasner
Award for Distinguished Service. “It meant so very,
very much to me to be honored by the men and
women I work for,” she says.