Curtis Calabrese
Democratic · FL
Calabrese is an airline captain and professor, a Naval Academy graduate and Navy combat veteran. His priorities are responsible growth and making daily life more affordable.
Track record
Track record — General
General · 26 records
Received Equality Florida PAC's endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission District 4 in the 2026 election.
October 17, 2026
Source: eqflpac.org
Received Veterans for Responsible Leadership's endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission in the 2026 election.
October 17, 2026
Source: vfrl.org
Received Emgage Action's endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission District 4 in the 2026 election.
October 17, 2026
Source: emgageaction.org
Served as United Airlines' representative on an event review committee, working with federal aviation regulators and the pilots' union to review safety data, investigate events and implement corrective actions.
October 17, 2026
Source: unsw.edu.au
Received the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance's endorsement for County Commission District 4 in the 2026 election.
October 17, 2026
Source: pbchrc.org
Investigated more than 100 aircraft accidents and incidents as a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, including the Southwest Airlines runway excursion at Burbank and the Calabasas helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant.
October 17, 2026
Source: unsw.edu.au
Received Women's Issues Now's endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission District 4 in the November 2026 election.
October 17, 2026
Source: pbcnow.org
Earned a second-place award at the International Science and Engineering Fair while attending Boca Raton High School.
September 28, 2026
Source: stetnews.org
Received The County editorial board's endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission District 4 in the 2026 election.
September 21, 2026
Source: thecountyfl.com
Received the Democratic Veterans Caucus of Florida's endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission District 4 in the 2026 election.
August 9, 2026
Source: demvetsfl.org
Received LGBTQ+ Victory Fund's endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission District 4 in the 2026 election.
August 3, 2026
Source: victoryfund.org
Received New Politics' endorsement for Palm Beach County Commission District 4 in the 2026 election.
April 23, 2026
Source: newpolitics.org
Received VoteVets' endorsement for his 2026 Palm Beach County Commission campaign.
February 13, 2026
Source: politico.com
Served as director of operations at Altivion Aviation, a private aviation company.
November 4, 2025
Source: altivionaviation.com
Joined a University of New South Wales panel on aircraft incident investigations, including the balance between flying experience, scientific methods and human behavior.
October 30, 2025
Source: unsw.edu.au
Presented his research on aviation safety and the effects of penalties and feedback in a Royal Aeronautical Society webinar.
May 14, 2025
Source: raes.org.au
Published doctoral research that found more errors after penalties were removed in a multitasking experiment. The research proposed combining open error reporting with penalties that discourage unsafe behavior in aviation.
December 20, 2024
Source: raes.org.au
Presented research questioning the effectiveness of an aviation safety approach that avoids penalties at a Pacific and Australasian conference on teamwork and human performance.
October 29, 2024
Source: pacdeff.com
Co-authored a study of 60 volunteers doing an aviation-style multitasking exercise. It found that penalties, feedback, or both reduced errors, with penalties alone producing the largest effect in that experiment.
September 15, 2023
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Joined a University of New South Wales panel discussing how aviation safety systems should handle human error, accountability and incident reporting.
July 27, 2023
Source: unsw.edu.au
Co-authored a study that associated the Federal Aviation Administration's 2015 shift from penalties toward corrective action with higher aircraft incident, accident and unsafe runway entry counts. The authors cautioned against reducing penalties without careful evaluation.
September 20, 2022
Source: trid.trb.org
Participated for the Federal Aviation Administration in the investigation of a fatal Nanchang CJ6 crash near Porter Ranch, California. The final report found that the pilot continued into poor visibility and struck terrain.
August 19, 2022
Source: data.ntsb.gov
Flew Navy reconnaissance missions that included submarine searches and providing surveillance support for the USS Donald Cook after Russian aircraft flybys in April 2016.
May 10, 2022
Source: wearethemighty.com
Said he mentored junior gay sailors and encouraged them to keep carrying out their duties while facing discrimination in the Navy.
May 10, 2022
Source: wearethemighty.com
Served as an aviation inspectors' union leader and spokesperson during the 2019 federal shutdown, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live and other outlets to explain the shutdown's effects.
April 6, 2022
Source: floridapolitics.com
Took part in a U.S. Navy aerial search over the Mediterranean for the missing EgyptAir Flight 804, aboard a P-3C Orion patrol aircraft flying from Sicily.
May 22, 2016
Source: indianexpress.com
Past race Curtis Calabrese ran in:
- Board of County Commissioners, District 4 · November 3, 2026 · Palm Beach County, Florida