Meet the Tower Team: Michael McDowell

Mike McDowell’s career in air traffic control spans nearly five decades. After four years in the U.S. Air Force at MacDill AFB, he served at Long Island’s FOK Airport before joining the FAA in 1982 as a controller at Tampa International Airport. Over his 28 years at TPA, Mike did additional work such as: Assistant Air Boss for MacDill Air Shows, ATC team member for Lakeland Air Shows, and coordinator for precision flyovers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers games.

Following retirement from the FAA in 2010, Mike worked as an ATC contractor instructor in Oklahoma City before joining Robinson Aviation (RVA) at BKV in 2011. Mike is one of two controllers remaining since the BKV tower was built in 2011. He became Tower Manager in 2014, leading a team of seasoned professionals—mostly retired FAA TPA Tower colleagues—who thrive in a flexible, collaborative environment.

BKV is a phenomenal place to work; the team members are all high-level professionals, each with decades of experience. For them, working at BKV is no stress and everyone gets along well. The team is comprised of part-time workers utilizing a job-share system. This allows everybody the schedule, flexibility, and time off they want.

According to Mike, “We’ve never had a bad hire.”

Under his leadership, BKV earned RVA’s 2023 Outstanding Facility of the Year and ranked near the top of 1,000 towers in a recent satisfaction survey. During Mike’s tenure at BKV, traffic has grown from 48,000 to 109,000 annual operations, fueled largely by student pilots. To learn to become pilots, students want to come to BKV. Here, they conquer one of their biggest fears – saying the wrong thing into the radio – as they gain confidence and proficiency.

Mike will celebrate 50-years as a professional ATC in June, 2026.