NATA Gives Out Its Annual Awards ...

... and at the top of the list are two players who have had a significant impact on the aviation services sector, Pat Epps and Jim Christiansen. At the very least, the awards recognize gentlemen known for their pragmatism, refreshing in an argumentative world. Epps was presented the William A. “Bill” Ong Memorial Award, essentially the association’s lifetime achievement award; Christiansen was given the NATA Award for Distinguished Service. Epps is president of Epps Aviation at the Dekalb-Peachtree Airport outside Atlanta. In Georgia, the Epps name is synonymous with aviation. His father, Ben Epps, was an industry pioneer who fathered a family of aviators. Pat’s daughter Marian was recently elected to the board of the National Air Transportation Association. The legacy continues. I recall during an evening event at a Georgia Airports Association meeting in Savannah standing by a campfire at an old fort south of downtown, talking aviation with Pat Epps. A memorable moment made even more so by the genuineness of the man … as well as his breadth of knowledge of things aviation. A couple of other times I dropped in at the Epps FBO at PDK and Pat insisted on dropping everything and visiting with me at the café there. It’s not hard to understand how he breeds loyalty among his customers. Christiansen has made his mark primarily on the charter and fractional sectors, and in fact was a central player in creation of a new reg, Part 91-Subpart K, which essentially calmed the storm that had arisen between the Part 135 charter segment and the up and coming fractionals back in the ‘90s. Hard to believe today, but at the time the 135s saw the fractionals as competitors on an unlevel playing field, and called on FAA to help clarify the issue. It’s one of the better examples of industry and regulator working together. In time, of course, the 135s came to realize that the fractionals were an important client base because of the need for supplemental lift. Christiansen remains very active and is the current chair of the Air Charter Safety Foundation, where he is again spearheading an effort – this time to determine a single standard for auditing Part 135 businesses. One can only assume the issue will ultimately be resolved with Jim leading the charge. I had the chance to interview Christiansen when he was the incoming chair of NATA, not long after the fractional/135 issue had been resolved. True to character, he wanted to cite just about everyone else involved for coming up with a solution … while everyone else was pointing to Jim. Finally, I would be remiss in not relating that John Bales, airport director of Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Missouri, is this year’s recipient of the NATA Airport Executive Partnership Award, which is sponsored by airport business magazine.  The award recognizes an airport manager for his or her outstanding efforts to foster relationships between aviation businesses and airport operators. The nomination form for Bales highlighted, among other things, his pragmatic approach toward working with operators on the field. Thanks for reading. jfi