David Wil Riggins
Mr. David “Wil” Riggins is the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Vice President of Flight Program Operations, AJF-0, for the Air Traffic Organization. In this role, Mr. Riggins serves as the agency's Flight Program Executive. He is responsible for all aspects of FAA Flight Program safety, administration, operations, training, and maintenance.
The core business of Flight Program Operations is safe flight operations and the efficient execution of its four primary missions: aviation safety training; flight inspection; research, development, test and evaluation support; and critical event response/transportation. Mr. Riggins oversees all operations in support of the National Airspace System and United States Military. The FAA Flight Program operates 39 aircraft in worldwide flight operations. The organization holds an Air Operator certificate under Part 135, as well as a Part 145 repair station certificate.
Mr. Riggins has been with the FAA since 2014, when he joined as an Aviation Safety Inspector and Principle Operations Inspector in Flight Standards at the Washington-Dulles Flight Standards District Offices. In 2016, Wil joined Flight Program Operations (AJF) where he initially served as a pilot, then as the manager and Chief Pilot of the Washington Flight Program at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA), prior to serving as AJF’s Deputy Vice President.
Before his career with the FAA, Mr. Riggins spent more than 27 years as a U.S. Army officer. After his 1987 graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, Mr. Riggins was assigned to Fort Bragg, NC as an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper. He served in Operation Just Cause in Panama and in Saudi Arabia and Iraq supporting Operation Desert Storm. At the rank of Captain, Mr. Riggins served as an Army Ranger before he began flying with Army Special Operations units. Following this assignment, the Army selected him to attend graduate school at the University of Virginia, where he earned a Master’s Degree in systems engineering.
Next, Mr. Riggins served as a special operations liaison in Seoul, South Korea. After a one-year program at the Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, Mr. Riggins was assigned to the Tampa, Florida-based U.S. Special Operations Command. Following 9/11/2001, he served a total of three deployments to Afghanistan. A graduate of the Army War College, Mr. Riggins’ final post was at the rank of Colonel in the Pentagon as chief of investment for the Army Budget Office, responsible for a $30 billion portfolio.
Mr. Riggins has logged over 6,000 flight hours. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with CE-560XL and CE-680 type ratings, and commercial privileges for rotorcraft-helicopter, instrument helicopter. Additionally, he is a Certified Flight Instructor ASEL, AMEL, and Instrument.
