Bill was Editor-in-Chief of Business & Commercial Aviation from 2000 to 2020. During his stewardship, the monthly magazine received scores of awards for editorial excellence.
He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the National Business Aviation Association; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Aerospace Media Awards; the Aviation Journalism Award from the National Air Transportation Association; and an Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award for Business Aviation.
Previously, Bill served as Managing Editor of Aviation Week Television. He was the top editor for both Flying and Professional Pilot magazines, as well as a member of the senior editorial staff at Reader's Digest. He also managed communications for FlightSafety International.
Bill has authored or co-authored three aviation books, was an essayist for National Public Radio, wrote aviation documentaries for The Discovery Channel and has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, Smithsonian Air & Space, Popular Mechanics and The Associated Press, among others.
An active aviator, Bill holds a Commercial Pilot license, along with multiengine, instrument, seaplane and glider ratings.
In our December 2003 issue, to help mark the centennial of powered flight, we unveiled four individuals, some with us still and some not, whose contributions to the business aviation community were visionary and long-lasting, and changed the course of the industry for the better. Now, having entered the second century of flight, we, the editors of B/CA, are honored to cite four more. As already stated, so many people have contributed so much, it would be impossible to recognize them all, and so we have selected a few extraordinary individuals to represent the many.
Each year the editors of B/CA recognize and celebrate the achievements of individuals who have made significant contributions to improving business aviation, presenting them with our Vision Award. In all cases the recipients have been active members of the community who continued about their work in making the industry safer, more efficient and more vibrant long after the applause quieted and the plaques were mounted on their office walls. This year, however, we thought we'd take a somewhat different approach.
David M. Tait, OBE CEO, Avocet Aircraft, Westport, Conn. A native Scot, Tait jokes that he got into the aviation business ``by mistake,'' and has remained for three decades. He helped launch Sir Freddie Laker's transatlantic Skytrain service, and then guided Sir Richard Branson in creating and building Virgin Atlantic. For his service, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Tait, now an American citizen, the Order of the British Empire in 2001. The following year he took charge of Avocet. 1 Eclipse, Mustang, Safire and Adam all have a long head start.
