Washington, DC – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announced today that Sharon Forbes of DuPont Aviation will be the first person to receive NBAA’s Schedulers & Dispatchers (S&D) Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award.
Forbes – who is the supervisor of scheduling operations and facility manager for DuPont’s FAR Part 91 flight department headquartered in Wilmington, DE – is slated to accept the award during the upcoming NBAA 20th Annual Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, which will be held January 13 to 16, 2009, at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in Long Beach, CA.
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.
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said, “Sharon Forbes personifies the dedication and enthusiasm of schedulers and dispatchers throughout the business aviation community. Given her long record of achievement, which extends back beyond the first NBAA S&D Conference in 1988, it is fitting that she receive the inaugural Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award. Her substantial accomplishments will stand as the benchmark for future award recipients.”
Upon being informed that she had won the award, Forbes said, “I am truly overwhelmed, humbled and honored to be the first recipient of this prestigious award from NBAA. I never imagined that participating in the first gathering of schedulers and dispatchers 20 years ago in Montvale, NJ, would change my life forever, but it did. The professional relationships and lifelong friendships that started there are a true joy and a significant part of my everyday life.”
Forbes began her aviation career in 1976 as an international flight attendant working out of New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Later, she became a certified travel agent before joining DuPont’s aviation department in 1985.
She began her affiliation with NBAA in 1989, when she and a few other schedulers asked the Association to establish a dedicated group for their profession. That organization eventually evolved into today’s Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee. Forbes led the Committee in 1994 and 1995 and continues to participate in related activities as a member of the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Advisory Council. Forbes also is a trustee of the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame and an active member of Tri-State Area Dispatchers and Schedulers, a regional group that serves the Mid-Atlantic states.
“It’s difficult to articulate how proud I am of the accomplishments and dedication of the scheduling and dispatching professionals who have been involved with NBAA for the past 20 years and who continue to raise the bar in the field,” said Forbes. “I’m especially proud of this group’s ongoing contribution to the safety and success of our flight departments. Everyone who has been involved with NBAA and the S&D Committee in any capacity understands that these accomplishments are a result of tremendous hard work and teamwork. Therefore, I graciously accept this honor on behalf of all schedulers and dispatchers – past, present and future.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.