Vilhauer joined Boeing in 1989, working in Congressional Relations as a company advocate on Capitol Hill. He focused on issues including commercial aviation, environmental and telecommunications policy, and space and defense programs. In 1998, he became the director of Commercial Airplane Programs for Boeing Government Relations, where he supported civil aviation and aeronautics liaison activities with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In 2000, he became the director of Air Traffic Management programs for Boeing Washington, D.C. Operations with responsibility for government and stakeholder advocacy efforts in support of the planning, development and implementation of a next-generation air traffic management system. Prior to Boeing, Vilhauer worked for nine years for the Hughes Aircraft Company, first in finance in its Space & Communications Group in El Segundo, Calif., and then in Marketing and Congressional Affairs in its Washington, D.C., office. Vilhauer has a bachelor's degree in physics from UCLA and a master's in business administration in finance from UCLA's Anderson School of Management.