Downes Award Winners
One of the most prestigious awards of ACI-NA, the “William E. Downes Jr. Memorial Award”, is the namesake of Bill Downes, the former Commissioner of Aviation for the City of Chicago from 1959 to 1975.
Nominees for this award possess outstanding leadership in promoting the cause of airports and aviation as a vital part of the local, national or worldwide aviation community.
Winners have successfully worked for acceptance, development and support of needed airport programs. They have been instrumental in fostering cooperation among various aviation entities with the ultimate goal of improving the airport. Finally, winners are known for their initiative of fostering or creating an innovative approach to solving vital issues facing the aviation industry currently, and implementing new approaches in planning for future aviation development. (Nominees must meet at least one of these criteria.)
1978 General Jimmy Doolittle, for International Aviation and Aircraft Noise Abatement Policy
1979 Sir Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine
1980 Elrey Jeppesen, developer of the Jeppesen navigation charts
1981 Dr. Werner Treibel, for German airport development
1982 Toru Akiyama, for Japanese airport and airline development
1983 Sir Peter Masefield, for British airport development
1984 No award presented
1985 John Wiley, former Aviation Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
1986 Knut Hammarskjold, former Director General of IATA
1987 Assad Kotaite, President of the International Civil Aviation Organization
1988 T. Wilson, for management of aircraft programs , Chairman of The Boeing Company for over 40 years
1989 J. Donald Reilly, former Executive Director/Secretary General of AOCI
1990 Colonel Frank Borman, former Astronaut and former President and CEO of Eastern Airlines
1991 F. Russell Hoyt, former CEO of AAAE
1992 R. Dixon Speas, Aviation Consultant
1993 Clifton A. Moore, retired Executive Director, Los Angeles International Airport
1994 Sir Norman J. Payne, British/European aviation industry leader and former Chairman of BAA
1995 No award presented
1996 George J. Bean, retired Executive Director [TPA]
1997 James M. Davey, retired Airport Director [DTW]
1998 John F. Brown, founder of Landrum & Brown
1999 No award presented
2000 No award presented
2001 No award presented
2002 No award presented
2003 No award presented
2004 James A. Wilding - former President/CEO, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
2005 No award presented
2006 Jim DeLong – former Director of Aviation, City of Denver
2007 Robert S. Michael, former Aviation Director, Louisville Regional Airport Authority
2008 Walter A. Burg, Executive Director, Tucson International Airport
2009 Paul B. Gaines, former Director of the Houston Airport System
2010 William 'Bill' DeCota, former Aviation Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
2011 Oris W. Dunham Jr., first Director General of Airports Council International
2012 Marjorie Brink Coridan, former consultant, LeighFisher
2013 Louis Turpen, former Director of San Francisco and Toronto airports
2014 Arnold W. Thompson, Arnold Thompson Associates
2015 Richard Haury, formerly of Griener Engineering, URS, and AECOM
2016 Louis E. Miller, formerly of Salt Lake City International Airport, formerly of Tampa International Airport, and formerly of the
City of Atlanta Department of Aviation
2017 Herb Kelleher, formerly of Southwest Airlines
2018 Susan (Sue) Baer, formerly of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (award presented posthumously)
2019 James (Jim) Cherry, formerly of Aéroports de Montréal
2020 No award presented
2021 Angela Gittens, formerly of ACI World and formerly of the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation
2022 Lynn Goldschmidt, formerly of DKMG
2023 Gerry Bruno, formerly of InterVISTAS and Vancouver Airport Authority