Term expires: November 2026
achelor’s degree, Commercial Aviation and Air Traffic Control, University of North Dakota. Honors: magna cum laude
Biography:
Josh Nicolson was born and raised in Chandler, Arizona. After attending the University of North Dakota (UND), he came back to Arizona to work as a flight instructor for the school’s Flight Training Center at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona. He later went to work for Sabena Airline Training Academy, where he received his European training licenses. While working at UND, he also created their first high school outreach program and mentored a student from high school all the way through college.
In 2007, Nicolson took a job as an air traffic controller at Houston Center. He now works at Tucson International Airport, where he is also the pilot liaison—a valuable resource for pilots to seek out and find answers to their everyday questions about air traffic control.
Nicolson has served as a legislative representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association since 2012, and travels to Washington, D.C. every year to educate members of Congress about the National Airspace System. He is the local safety representative for Tucson Tower and works with all the stakeholders at the airport to mitigate risk for users of the airspace.
Nicolson moved to Oro Valley in 2012 and immediately joined his local HOA board so he could take an active role in his community. He is an outdoor person who enjoys mountain biking, snowboarding, wakeboarding, karting and taking his superbike to track days (he raced motocross from an early age). He also plays classical guitar; although, he says he’s not that great at it.