NBAA Honors Veteran Aviation Journalist Rob Mark With 2018 Gold Wing Award

Oct. 16, 2018

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today honored FLYING magazine Senior Editor Rob Mark with the NBAA Gold Wing Award for Journalism Excellence, recognizing accurate and insightful reporting about business aviation.

Mark received the award during the association’s Media Kick-Off Breakfast, held immediately prior to the opening of the 2018 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), which runs through Oct. 18 in Orlando, FL.

A veteran journalist with decades of experience covering the aviation industry, Mark was recognized for his August 2018 article, “ATC Privatization: Inside the fight for air traffic control’s future,” which took a broad look at the issue from all sides involved: NBAA and other general aviation groups, Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the airlines, consumer groups, rural groups, think tanks on the political left and right, and others.

Champions of air traffic control (ATC) privatization continually pushed for the idea as part of a just-concluded congressional debate over FAA reauthorization. Earlier this year, a proposal for so-called ATC privatization was dropped from congressional legislation. This month, Congress passed, and the president signed, a long-term, bipartisan FAA reauthorization bill that did not include privatization.

“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,” said NBAA Chair Lloyd “Fig” Newton 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 work at FLYING magazine, Mark heads up CommAvia, a marketing and communications consultancy. He also writes an award-winning blog at Jetwhine.com, co-hosts an aviation-focused radio show, Attitude Adjustment, produced each day in conjunction with the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Airventure event.

Mark is a professional pilot, and certified flight instructor with experience in the Part 91, 121 & 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, an award-winning print journalist, and the author of four aviation books produced under the McGraw-Hill label.

Learn more about the NBAA Gold Wing Award for Journalism Excellence.