NBAA Welcomes Veteran Aviation Journalist Robert Searles to the Association

May 14, 2014
In his new role, Searles will oversee the day-to-day production and convergence of editorial content for NBAA's multiple communications channels, as well as NBAA's official Member magazine, Business Aviation Insider.

Washington, DC, May 14, 2014 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announced today that veteran aviation industry journalist and longtime NBAA contributor Robert A. (Bob) Searles has been named managing editor for NBAA's Communications team.?

In his new role, Searles will oversee the day-to-day production and convergence of editorial content for NBAA’s multiple communications channels, as well as NBAA's official Member magazine, Business Aviation Insider. He has worked with NBAA since 1989 as a freelance editor, writer and consultant.

“Over the decades Bob has reported on the business aviation community, he has developed his own extraordinary brand of straightforward coverage of the issues affecting the industry,” said Dan Hubbard, NBAA senior vice president, communications. “He is able to convey even the most technical matters in a manner that is clear, concise and understandable to any audience. We are honored to welcome him as an integral member of the NBAA team.”

Hubbard added that Searles’s new position will optimize the visibility and placement of editorial content among NBAA’s multiple online, social media and print resources, providing audiences with a wide range of avenues for information about business aviation and NBAA’s continuing work to represent the industry.

Searles began his career as a contributor for McGraw-Hill publications, writing for Aviation Week, the Weekly of Business Aviation and Business & Commercial Aviation magazine. He has also worked with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) as contributing editor to that association's AOPA Pilot publication.

In conjunction with NBAA’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1997, Searles co-authored NBAA's Tribute to Business Aviation, which traces the origins and development of business aviation in the United States from the emergence of business flying during the 1920s, through the industry’s germination during The Great Depression and its rapid rise after World War II. The book also covers the evolution of NBAA since its founding.

In 2003, Searles was named the Aerospace Journalist of the Year – Best Propulsion Submission by the World Leadership Forum, for his article documenting the history of enginemaker Pratt & Whitney Canada. He is a graduate of Ursinus College and a member of the Aero Club of Washington.