Subscribe to the Free Print Edition!
Celebrating 25 Years

GCN Home > May 7, 2001 issue

INTERVIEW: Walter Kross, Flight Explorer’s commander

Public-private partnerships benefit all

Ten years ago, Walter Kross directed the largest military transportation operation since World War II. Now he’s leading a new enterprise in the private sector.

The retired four-star Air Force general recently became president and chief executive officer of Flight Explorer, a Fairfax, Va., provider of flight-tracking information systems.

During the Gulf War, Kross was chief operating officer and then commander-in-chief of the Transportation Command. His military career also included posts as commander of the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and director of operations for the Air Force.

Kross worked with the Federal Aviation Administration to establish the Global Air Traffic Management program, which keeps U.S. military avionics systems compatible with those of foreign countries.

After leaving the government in 1998, Kross became chairman of the board of OilGuard Environmental Inc. of Vista, Calif. He then spent two years as a partner and managing director at KPMG International of New York, where he was active in the national transportation consulting practice.

Kross received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Niagara University, a master’s in government from Auburn University and a master’s in public administration from Southern Illinois University.

GCN associate editor Patricia Daukantas interviewed Kross by telephone.

GCN: How is working in the private sector different from working in the Air Force?

KROSS: I left a good position with KPMG International of New York to lead a company with an exciting product. It’s a wonderful challenge.

It’s different from serving in the military; there’s no doubt about it. This is an entrepreneurial, profit-and-loss operation with a commercial product for sale. The military is a profession, a calling that focuses on everything from humanitarian missions to hot conflicts. When you get up in the morning in that job, you could be in a life-and-death situation. Here, it’s only a financial life-and-death situation.

GCN: Does the Federal Aviation Administration use Flight Explorer software?

KROSS: Yes, they do. Our proprietary software takes data from FAA and turns it into usable information, much the same way that Microsoft Windows turns data into usable information. That makes it a product that you can market back to FAA, and the agency sees the value of it. FAA officials have been quite cooperative about the commercial development of companies like ours because they know it’s faster, better, cheaper than doing it themselves.



GCN Popup