LAX FLIGHT PATH MUSEUM HONORS BOARD OF AIRPORT COMMISSIONERS VICE-PRESIDENT VAL VELASCO AND ADDITIONAL TWO OUTSTANDING WOMEN AT GALA XXII

(Los Angeles, California – October 6, 2017) The Flight Path Museum & Learning Center at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) bestowed Honorary Service Awards to Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) Vice-President Val Velasco and two other exceptional women at their annual Gala Oct. 5, and awarded scholarships to college students pursuing careers in the Aviation and Aerospace industry.

LAX Flight Path Museum & Learning Center bestow Honorary Service Awards to Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) Vice-President Val Velasco for her commitment to improving the communities in and around LAX.

            The Honorary Service Awards honor those individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving their communities in and around LAX. Special plaques will be placed on Flight Path's Wall of Honor on Sepulveda Blvd. in Westchester.  This year’s recipients are: Val Velasco, Vice President, Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners; Rowena Ake, Realtor/Business owner; and Karen Dial, President, Drollinger Properties.

            “Congratulations to Board of Airport Commissioners Vice President Val Velasco and other honorees on this special recognition by the Flight Path Museum,” said Samson Mengistu, Los Angeles World Airports Chief Operating Officer. “Commission Vice President Velasco’s commitment to improving and advancing the communities around LAX does not go unnoticed and is reflected in the lives she impacts and transforms."

            Val Velasco is a trust attorney with 30 years of community service and Vice President of BOAC for the past 12 years and to-date, is the longest serving Airport Commissioner. 

             She has served as President of the Alliance for Regional Solutions to Airport Congestion (ARSAC) as well as serving as an active member of the Rotary Club of Westchester. She was also a founding board member of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa. Velasco was a school teacher, a staff person for members of the State Assembly and City Council staff member, a City Planning Commissioner and a Superior Court Judge Pro-Tem.

            Rowena Ake is a true pillar of the Westchester/Playa del Rey community with 60 years of serving the community through service organizations including the Westchester Women’s Club, Rotary and Elk’s Lodge. She was the first female member and President of the Westchester Rotary Club, the first female Honorary Mayor of the Westchester Chamber of Commerce and the second Chairperson and President of Flight Path Museum. After the death of her husband to cancer in 1968, she became active in the American Cancer Society.

            Karen Dial is carrying on the legacy of her parents Jewel and Howard B. Drollinger as a real estate developer, community leader and philanthropist. Dial is the President of Drollinger Properties, runs the Drollinger Family Charitable Foundation as well as managing the Westchester Town Center Business Improvement District. Through her companies and foundations, Dial supports the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce and the Westchester Family YMCA. 

            “We are extremely grateful for the support these three community leaders have extended to Flight Path Museum and it is our pleasure to honor them,” said Lynne Adelman, Flight Path Board of Directors President.

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About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

           LAX is the fourth busiest airport in the world, second in the United States, and was named Skytrax’ 2017 Top 10 Most Improved Airports.  LAX served more than 80.9 million passengers in 2016.  LAX offers 737 daily nonstop flights to 100 cities in the U.S. and 1,386 weekly nonstop flights to 88 cities in 44 countries on 73 commercial air carriers.  LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.2 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion.  LAX handled 697,138 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2016. 

An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues.  The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.

            LAX is also the second most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram according to wego.com. LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.

          As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities.  Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.

About Flight Path Museum and Learning Center