Contact: Dan Hubbard, (202) 783-9360, dhubbard@nbaa.org
Tampa, FL, Jan. 20, 2016 – Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), presented Dorette Kerr, a former chair of the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers (S&D) Committee, with the association’s Schedulers & Dispatchers Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award during NBAA’s 2016 Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC2016), being held Jan. 19 to 22 in Tampa, FL.
Created in 2008, the award recognizes individuals who have shared their outstanding business aviation industry expertise, provided extraordinary service, exhibited leadership and made significant contributions to the scheduling and dispatching function.
Kerr is the manager of flight administration for John Deere Global Aviation Services in Moline, IL, where she has worked since 1990. She began her career at the company in risk management and moved into its aviation department 19 years ago. Back then, she was the department’s only scheduler. Today, in addition to overseeing a full-time scheduler and an aviation analyst who coordinate John Deere’s domestic and international flights, she manages the contract flight attendants for the company and leads internal career-development efforts.
Kerr has been heavily involved with NBAA’s S&D activities, including serving as chair of the S&D Committee in 2009 and 2010. In that capacity, she worked tirelessly to grow and retain S&D Committee membership, expand training opportunities through NBAA’s Professional Development Program (PDP), make operational material more accessible to NBAA’s S&D community and provide better support to smaller flight departments. She also served literally as a poster child for the No Plane, No Gain advocacy campaign, appearing in Business Aviation Insider and on promotional posters for the campaign.
“Dorette raises the bar for everyone in everything she does,” said Jay Sears, director of aviation for John Deere Global Aviation Services and Kerr’s manager. “She always sees past the immediate task to the real objective, and in her mind no task is complete until she has followed through. We operate around the clock and around the world, and she is always available and efficient when issues arise. Even more than that, she’s very good at developing people. We’re lucky to have her train the employees who are moving into her department from other areas of the company.”
Mentorship is a top priority for Kerr. Subsequent to her three-year leadership role at NBAA, Kerr went on to co-found an S&D roundtable to create benchmarks and grow business aviation scheduling and dispatching as a career path, and she is passionate about establishing a mentoring program.
“That’s the legacy Dorette wants to leave behind,” says Jo Damato, CAM, NBAA director of educational development and strategy. “She has been an unofficial mentor to so many, and she wants to create a program to continue and develop that. Dorette always strives to make her mark on the industry. Everyone who works with her is better for it.”
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Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The association represents more than 10,000 companies and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org.
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