Flying senior editor Rob Mark is the recipient of the 2018 NBAA Gold Wing Award for Journalism Excellence, which the National Business Aviation Association presents annually for "excellent, accurate and insightful reporting on issues related to business aviation."
Mark won the prize for his August 2017 feature article, ATC Privatization: Inside the Fight for Air Traffic Control's Future, a story that explored the issue from all sides involved, including NBAA and other general aviation groups, Congress, the FAA, the airlines, consumer groups, rural groups, think tanks on the political left and right and others.
NBAA Chair Lloyd “Fig” Newton presented the award to Mark at the annual media kick-off breakfast this morning at the NBAA Convention in Orlando, Florida.
“Rob’s story made crystal clear the high stakes in the ATC privatization battle, and the need for everyone in the industry to mobilize, to ensure that Congress clearly understood the many pressing concerns raised by the proposal,” Newton said in presenting the award to Mark. “That’s the level of journalism the Gold Wing Award recognizes, and we appreciate Rob’s straight-forward, objective approach to providing a complete overview of a complex and divisive issue.”
In addition to his full-time job at Flying magazine, Mark heads up CommAvia, a marketing and communications consultancy. He also writes the award-winning Jetwhine blog and co-hosts an aviation-focused radio show, Attitude Adjustment, produced each day at AirVenture Oshkosh.
A recipient of the FAA Master Pilot Award, Mark is a professional pilot and certified flight instructor with experience in the Part 91, 121 and 135 realms. He spent 10 years with the FAA, as both an air traffic controller and an ATC supervisor. He also is a former adjunct lecturer in the graduate program at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and the author of four aviation books.
