William A. “Bill” Ong Memorial Award
"I am incredibly humbled to receive the William A. “Bill” Ong Memorial Award. To be recognized along with such an influential leader for general aviation is truly an honor. I couldn’t be more appreciative of those who made it possible: my family and friends, colleagues and customers, and industry comrades and organizations, particularly NATA. It’s through my work with such dedicated people that Avfuel has been able to thrive and increasingly serve the industry we love."
"To me, the Ong Award represents that you have done it right and worked well with others for a long time. I'm very honored to follow the previous winners in accepting this award. I have held many of them in high regard for a long time, so it truly is a distinct honor."
"I'm truly humbled by this honor. I've known many of the previous recipients of the Ong Award over the years, all of them arguably more deserving of it than I am. It really feels like an incredible recognition of of a life spent in aviation to even be mentioned in their company."
NATA Distinguished Service Award
"I’m sure there are many people that are deserving of the award, but I’m appreciative of it and honored to receive it. I’ve been involved in NATA for a very long time and have always thought the world of the Association. I think we became NATA members about 1970, and I was on the board of directors at one point. Visiting NATA’s headquarters in Washington was a chance to meet senators, FAA administrators, all kinds of people in the industry, and it really increased my knowledge of what the aviation world was about. When I reflect on my time in aviation – particularly thinking about “service” to the industry – one thing I’m proudest of is helping others get their start. My whole life, when I met a kid who was interested in airplanes, I’d always, always, always say, “Come on over – we want to work with you and show you what you can do. You might have to polish a few airplanes or clean some latrines, but we will get you some flying time to get you started.” And we did that with a lot of kids. You know, general aviation in the Virgin Islands was in its infancy when I first got here. There was nothing going on. Now look at it: kids we trained became Navy, Air Force, and airline pilots —777 captains and 747 captains — and we’re so proud that we were able to help. If they had the initiative, then we’d go forward from there. That’s my story."
"This incredible honor surprised me to be honest, there are so many phenomenal people in this industry. To see my own name come up for something like this is almost a shock. I feel truly privileged by it."
"Candidly, it makes me feel both honored and humbled to receive this award from NATA and be recognized for my contributions to the aviation industry. I looked at the list of previous recipients and was both pleased and flattered to be included in this distinguished group of individuals."
ATP/NATA General Aviation Service Technician Award
"I was taken by surprise by it, humbled - a lot of other people in our industry probably deserve it - and, ultimately, happy and honored to have my name and my work recognized as a part of that history of this important side of our industry."
“What a great honor it is to accept this award from NATA, an organization that looks after the safety and success of aviation businesses.”
Future Leader Award
“I am very honored to receive the Future Leader Award from the National Air Transportation Association. NATA does a great job of supporting the goals of aviation safety in the industry and protecting small businesses and aviation jobs. Thank you for this honor, I will continue to do my best to ensure I nourish and encourage the future leaders in GA to do the same.”
“To me, this award means there’s more growth to come, and I embrace that. I’m always learning, trying to do better for my customers and my team, trying to embody that value of servant leadership. I don’t want to just point and say, ‘Go get things done.’ I want people to see I’m willing to do it, I’m willing to show you, I’m willing to be out there working alongside you. I want to be that servant leader who gives back to our community, gives back to the folks who work hard with me, and gets to know people at a better level than just boss and coworkers, so that we’re all growing together.”
Airport Executive Partnership Award
“Thank you to NATA selecting me as the winner for the recipient of the Airport Executive Partnership Award. What an honor, especially since the focus of this award is on the critical role of relationships in the aviation industry, never more important than in today’s changing environment.”
Safety 1st Certified Line Service Professional Award
“It is an honor to be recognized by NATA for my work as a line service technician, alongside so many other skilled technicians and industry professionals.”
“I’m not great at receiving individual recognition, especially when it comes to something like a Safety 1st award. To me this is really a recognition that our whole team is functioning well together to prioritize safety, and it shows how much our team really cares, so I’m going to regard this as a group award. We were nominated as Colorado’s best charter service this year, so it’s not just me: it’s a whole group of people that want to do the best they can.”