Ekaterina (Katya) Grimes Executive Vice-President

ekagrimes@wicks-group.com
202-457-7790 (office)
202-352-3983 (mobile)

Ekaterina (Katya) Grimes is Executive Vice-President of The Wicks Group Consulting. She has nearly 25 years of experience in assisting aviation-related clients with US regulatory requirements and processes, and specializes in helping foreign air carriers understand requirements for doing business in the US. She provides foreign air carriers with US business development and doing business recommendations, and assists them with start-up and ongoing operations tasks involving the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Treasury Department, Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, and US Citizenship and Immigration Service. She also assist foreign air carriers with certification and licensing processes of Canadian aviation authorities.

Katya also regularly works on the firm’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) audit preparation projects for foreign civil aviation authorities. She served as the Assistant Project Manager for the IASA projects completed for Azerbaijan and Ukraine, and oversaw implementation of corrective actions related to air operator certification files for the project in India.

Prior to joining The Wicks Group, Katya was a Russian Specialist at a major Washington, DC law firm. She also participated in the Duke University Fuqua School of Business Program for Entrepreneurs from the Soviet Union.

Representative Experience

• Providing extensive regulatory assistance to numerous foreign air carriers operating to the United States, including work with DOT, FAA and TSA certifications and approvals; obtaining waivers, and clearances; work with airport authorities, and coordination with federal security, customs, immigration, and tax agencies
• Providing assessment and technical assistance consulting services on international standards for CAA certification and other requirements for IASA audit preparation projects in Azerbaijan, India, and Ukraine.
• Assisting governmental delegations and clients at ICAO, IATA, and United Nations events; participating in multiple conferences and events, including bilateral aviation negotiations and the FAA Operations Specifications Working Group