My first employ and initial exposure to aviation was with the Royal Canadian Air Force, working in a control tower at Naval Air Station Shearwater, Nova Scotia. Thereafter, I was employed as an air traffic controller with the Ministry of Transport at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. After this employ, I completed my law studies obtaining a JD at California Western School of Law; immediately thereafter I acquired  an  LL.M. in Air & Space Law from The Institute of Air & Space Law, McGill Law School, Montreal, Quebec.  After graduation, I set up my law practice in  Hyannis, Massachusetts. In 2005, I was admitted to the Nova Scotia bar and I was a trial lawyer in Halifax for five years. Upon my return to the United States, I set up a law practice in Biddeford, Maine.

       While being an aviation and trial attorney, I also also was employed as a flight instructor, charter, and airline pilot accumulating over 8000 flight hours flying various aircraft types from Learjets to Dash 8s.  

        I maintain an active bar membership with the Commonwealth of  Massachusetts and inactive bar membership in the District of Columbia, Maine, and Nova Scotia. Besides my involvement with Air Travel Advocates, my law practice, The Law Office of D. Lyle Elkins, LL.M, is limited to representing pilots with  matters before the U.S Department of Transportation.

       With my having a firm foundation in the functioning of the aviation environment, I decided to form Air Travel Advocates, a non-profit organization.  Its primary objective is to make use of my professional and life experiences and that of others to assist air travelers to understand and assert their rights and protections. Air Travel Advocates also seeks to address unresolved aviation safety issues.  

         My work with Air Travel Advocates never seeks a fee. My function is to provide  information and guidance to air travelers so that they can ascertain if the airlines are providing the required passenger rights and safety protections; if an airline is not, guidance will be given to address same. This website is set up as a self-help hopefully allow you to resolve your airline issues. 

      If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me with any questions: airtraveladvocates@gmail.com or aviationlawyer@gmail.com