Redirecting the Aviation Dream: Jonathan Freye Leverages Himself as an Aviation Lobbyist

WMU Aviation Flight Science Alumni Jonathon Freye
Posted by Tom Thinnes on

WMU Aviation Alumnus Jonathon Freye in the rotunda of the United States Capitol

Jonathon Freye doesn't don the captain's uniform of a major airline as he once hoped, but his roles in the industry might be even more important than safely getting a flight full of people from point A to destination B. 
 
His career, launched in 2008 when he received his degree in aviation flight science from the WMU College of Aviation, now stays basically on the ground except when he flies for his job to complete an assignment. 
 
And what a job that is for the 2005 graduate of Muskegon Catholic Central High School located in the Lake Michigan shoreline community about halfway up the state's Lower Peninsula.  He is the director of legislative affairs for Supernal, the newly created (the fall of 2021) air-mobility division of Hyundai Motor Group, where he is poised to be part of the next generation of air travel.  The Supernal mission is to revolutionize how people get from here to there by creating an electric-powered vehicle for commercial flights by 2028. 

Request College of Aviation Information
 Nothing like that was on his horizon when, six months into his stint as one of the college's flight instructors while also flying for RAI Jets out of the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport, he had a seizure "totally out of the blue," something that would keep him from being a pilot up in the blue.  Specialists at the University of Michigan diagnosed a type of epilepsy that doesn't manifest in people until their late teens or early 20s. 
 
Grounded but not down and out, Freye knew he still wanted an aviation-focused career and COA Professor Lori Brown helped him take the first step. The nearby Calhoun Area Career Center (CACC) had plans for an aviation program for 11th and 12 graders in high school.  Needed was a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) instructor to create the program from scratch and Freye filled the bill.  "I spent two very rewarding years (2010-2012) there.  More than a few of my students went on to the College of Aviation and are now working in the industry. I'll always be grateful to Dr. Brown for recommending me for the CACC position." 

Freye with his wife, Susan, and son, Connor

Helping to redirect his career course was the February 2009 crash of Colgan Flight 3407 that killed 49 passengers and one person on the ground.  Flying out of Newark, N.J., the plane was making its approach to the Buffalo airport in western New York when, according to the official report, it could not recover from an aerodynamic stall and lost control because of pilot error. 
 
"Congress began working on a landmark law that substantially changed how pilots are trained and qualified," Freye says.  "I wondered -- who are the people on Capitol Hill writing these policies?  Do they have the technical expertise to do it?" 
 
So off he went to Washington -- somewhat cold turkey -- in 2012.  Freye had secured an internship in the office of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), who was first elected to the upper chamber in 2001.  Chair of the Senate's aviation subcommittee, she still is in office and also has a term in the U.S. House of Representatives on her resume. 
 
That led to three years (2013-2016) as a federal affairs representative for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the agency that oversees the operation and management of Ronald Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport serving the nation's capital.  Then it was back to Capitol Hill to serve as a senior policy adviser for U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Illinois), a member of the House's aviation subcommittee during his 16 years in Congress ending in 2021. 
 
Freye prepped for his current duties at Supernal with two years (2019-2021) as the vice president of government affairs for the National Air Transportation Association, a 2,300-member entity that keeps Congress up to date regarding the aviation industry and its across-the-board businesses.  He's logged a decade as a political staffer and an aviation lobbyist "translating the technical aspects of our industry into language that can persuade policymakers," he says.  If "lobbying" is a bad word, think about this -- the largest, and probably the most powerful, lobby in Washington is the American Association of Retired Persons, the organization that looks out for America's "senior citizens." 

The Freye family visiting one of their favorite locations in Washington, D.C. - the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in the National Air and Space Museum

The fellow who will have a role in producing the next generation of air travel is first-generation when it comes to aviation.  "I have no family in the industry," he says, "but I always loved airplanes.  Growing up, the Muskegon airport hosted a really big air show each summer.  That was my first up-close-and-personal experience with airplanes and pilots.  I surveyed lots of higher-education options during high school.  I did know that the College of Aviation had a stellar reputation in the industry.  I visited twice and really liked the main WMU campus in Kalamazoo and the college's facilities in Battle Creek.  I was also impressed with the comprehensive curriculum.  Flying attracts people for different reasons -- the view, the sense of freedom.  For me, it's the airplanes.  I love them." 
 
Before the college formed its own student-ambassador program, Freye performed similar duties for the WMU Office of Admissions giving tours and reaching out to prospective and admitted students.  "It was a great opportunity to speak candidly with prospective students and their parents about why I chose Western." 
 
Freye dug into the aviation program to make it the best it could possibly be.  He helped revive the dormant Aviation Student Council serving as its vice president in the 2007-08 academic year.  "In effect," he recalls, "that was my first job as a lobbyist.  I was the council's representative in the Western Student Association when the WSA got the student activity fee increased to subsidize the cost of starting a shuttle-bus service from the main campus to the College of Aviation in Battle Creek. 
 
"I love what I do," Freye says.  "Some people really hate politics, but I'm lucky to see it through a pretty narrow lens -- transportation -- which is a mostly bi-partisian issue. I hope to remain part of this multi-faceted industry.  Almost everyone I graduated with has pursued the career path they came to Western for.  I'm doing something very different -- still in aviation.  It is something for which WMU nonetheless prepared me to excel." 

Freye's son Connor requested to be a Blue Angel for Halloween. "When your toddler makes a request like that, you go all-in!"

Freye says he's been part of countless aviation policies that became law, that deal with safety, taxes on the industry and airport development.  As a Capitol Hill staffer, his congressional boss helped authorize a pair of $25-million grants for the Federal Aviation Administration to train the coming workforce.  "I wrote and negotiated that legislation," he says.  "It's pretty awesome to see your ideas become bona-fide federal law." 
 
Freye looks back at where his path could have taken him and its actual track.  "I wanted to be a pilot since I was old enough to talk," he says, "but had I known that a medical issue would take me out of the cockpit, I would have broadened my focus while still concentrating on aviation.  Thus, this is my advice to students in any facet of the industry.  Health is fragile and the industry can be fickle.  Learn as much as you can so you can be a utility player if your situation changes."  He can offer that bit of wisdom to current students at the college's annual golf-outing fundraiser at which he has given back as a hole sponsor. 

Connor's first trip in a general aviation plane - a charter trip to see the grandparents

Home these day for Freye, wife Susan (also a Bronco graduate) and 2-year-old son Connor is Annapolis, Md., close enough to see the flyovers at Naval Academy football games.  Connor wants to be a second-generation aviation person and someday "fly the blue jets" that speed by "way up there." 
 
"Despite the fact that I don't work anywhere near airports or airplanes," Freye says, "the work I do still impacts the industry that I truly love.  It supports the safety and competitiveness of the industry."   
 
And who knows?  Connor's dad may be in the vanguard of creating a different kind of "blue jet."