Best in the flying business: Aviation Week’s Laureate Award winners named

AVIATION WEEK Network has named the winners of its 63rd Annual Laureate Awards, honouring extraordinary achievements in global aerospace. 

The 2020 Laureate Awards will take place on March 12, 2020 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.  At that event, a Grand Laureate in each of the four categories will be named from among the winners. 

“These winners, selected by Aviation Week Network editors who reviewed dozens of nominations, embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision that will inspire others to strive for broad-reaching progress in aviation, aerospace and defence,” said Aviation Week & Space Technology editor-in-chief Joseph C. Anselmo. “We look forward to honouring them all, and announcing the Grand Laureate winners in March.”

The award categories are Business Aviation, Commercial Aviation, Defense and Space.  In addition, Aviation Week Network will bestow the Philip J. Klass Award for Lifetime Achievement. 

Four cadets and midshipmen from US military academies will be recognised as Tomorrow’s Leaders, honouring young men and women who have chosen career paths in the armed forces. 

In addition to the Laureate Awards, Aviation Week Network will recognize the ‘20 Twenties’ in partnership with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).  This program recognises the accomplishments and drive of 20 science, technology, engineering and mathematics students in their 20s and currently enrolled in a master's degree or bachelor's degree program

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The Laureate Winners are:

BUSINESS AVIATION

MRO - Robotic Skies
Anticipating widespread growth in commercial unmanned aircraft, Robotic Skies has created a global network of repair stations to maintain and service the burgeoning fleet.

Operations: Rega Swiss Air-Rescue
To operate in reduced visibility in mountainous terrain, Rega helped develop a low-altitude helicopter instrument route and approach system using satellite navigation.

Platform - Gulfstream G500/G600
Laying the foundations for a new generation of large-cabin, long-range Gulfstreams, the G500 and G600 feature the Symmetry flight deck including fly-by-wire, active sidesticks and touchscreen controls.

Propulsion - Pratt & Whitney PT6E
Pratt & Whitney’s next-generation PT6E is the first general aviation turboprop to feature dual-channel integrated electronic propeller and engine control.

Safety - Garmin Autoland
The push of a red button in an emergency by a pilot or passenger activates Garmin’s Autoland, a virtual co-pilot that takes control and lands the aircraft automatically.

Technology & Innovation - Wing Aviation
A subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, Wing in April 2019 became the first commercial drone delivery service to be awarded a Part 135 air carrier certificate by the FAA.

 

COMMERCIAL AVIATION

Air Traffic Management – Aireon
Aireon’s satellite-based surveillance system for the first time provides continuous tracking of aircraft over oceans and remote regions.

Airline Strategy – Adel Ali, CEO, Air Arabia
In Air Arabia, CEO Adel Ali has built a sustainably profitable low-cost carrier pioneering the business model in the Middle East.

Leadership - David Neeleman, airline entrepreneur
Having established multiple airlines including Morris Air, JetBlue Airways and Azul Linhas Aereas, David Neeleman is preparing to get Moxy, his latest venture, off the ground.

MRO – Donecle
French company Donecle is the leader in performing aircraft visual inspections by automated drone, cutting inspection times by 90 percent.

Platforms - Airbus A321LR
The first long-range version of the Airbus A321neo, the A321LR is developing a new market niche – narrowbodies flying in secondary long-haul markets.

Propulsion - Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce’s surprise acquisition of Siemens’ eAircraft unit has catapulted the engine manufacturer into a leading position in the electrification of aircraft propulsion.

Sustainability – Boeing ecoDemonstrator
Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator program has completed six test campaigns, the aircraft serving as tools to accelerate development and testing of new technology.

 

DEFENCE

Best New Product - Embraer KC-390
The first KC-390 tanker/transport, the largest and most sophisticated aircraft yet developed by Embraer, was delivered to the Brazilian Air Force in 2019.

Manufacturing - Northrop Grumman F-35 Centre Fuselage Production
In 10 months, Northrop Grumman increased F-35 centre-fuselage production from six a month to 15. Part supply deliveries increased from 81,000 a year to 274,000.

MRO - BAE Systems Typhoon Total Availability Enterprise
Combining Eurofighter support packages into one program focused on management of the Royal Air Force fleet has lowered Typhoon support costs by around 38 percent.   

Platforms - Bell V-280 Valor
From low-speed agility to speeds beyond 280 kt., Bell’s V-280 advanced tiltrotor has met or exceeded objectives under the US Army’s Joint Multi-Role demonstration.

Propulsion: AFRL Medium Scale Critical Components Scramjet Program
In a test by the US Air Force Research Laboratory and Air Force Test Center, a Northrop Grumman scramjet set a record for thrust produced by a US air-breathing hypersonic engine.

Technology & Innovation - Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie
Developed for the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Kratos’ XQ-58 Valkyrie blurs the traditional boundaries between a disposable cruise missile and reusable unmanned aircraft.

Weapons - Missile Defense Agency/Boeing Ground-based Midcourse Defense FTG-11
In March 2019, two interceptors launched from Vandenberg AFB, California, shot down two ICBM targets in the most realistic test yet of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system.

 

SPACE

Launch Services - Spaceflight Industries
Spaceflight Industries has created a new way to deliver small satellites to space by allowing government and commercial operators to share the ride.

Operations - HawkEye 360
US startup HawkEye 360 has launched the first commercial service for geolocating radio-frequency signals from space, using satellites that fly in a unique formation.

Platforms - Mars Cube One Mission
In the first demonstration of cubesats in deep space, the Mars Cube One mission relayed near-real-time telemetry of the entry, descent and landing of NASA’s Insight.

Propulsion - Reaction Engines
Reaction Engines has demonstrated its pre-cooler at temperatures representative of hypersonic speeds, a critical milestone toward development of its air-breathing rocket engine.

Space Science - Chang’e 4 Moon Landing
With the January 2019 touchdown of the Chang’e 4 robotic lunar lander in the Von Kármán Crater, China became the first country to soft-land on the Moon’s far side.

Supplier Innovation - OneWeb Satellites
In a unique transatlantic venture between mega-constellation operator OneWeb and aerospace manufacturer Airbus, OneWeb Satellites is bringing aircraft mass production to satellite manufacturing.

Technology & Innovation - RemoveDEBRIS Mission
In a groundbreaking series of on-orbit tests, the European-funded RemoveDEBRIS mission demonstrated active debris removal technologies designed to clean up low Earth orbit.

 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Robert LeDuc - President, Pratt & Whitney
LeDuc came out of retirement and used his leadership skills to shake up the corporate team and guide the PW1000G geared turbofan program through its challenging service introduction and production ramp-up and onto the road to success.

 

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