This article is about the international Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards (AJOYA), issued from 1996 to 2009–2010 by the World Leadership Forum, Ltd, of London, England, U.K., in conjunction with the Farnborough Air Show (England) and the Paris Air Show (France).
AJOYA should not be confused with the Australia's "Aviation Journalist of the Year" Awards, issued by that country's National Aviation Press Club (at least during 2010, in Sydney, Australia). Those awards were restricted to writers from Australia and New Zealand.For more on those awards in 2010, see: "Australian Aviation’s McLaughlin ‘Aviation Journalist of the Year’", on australianaviation.com.au December 6, 2010.
Overview The international Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards (AJOYA) were awards for writers and broadcasters working in the aerospace and aviation field, including specialists and those working for non-specialist titles. The awards dinner took place in mid-July (timed to coincide with the Farnborough Air Show and the Paris Air Show), and brought together aviation media and industry representatives.
The awards were organised between 1996"Air Safety Week's David Evans Wins International Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award" (POTOMAC, MD, July 22, 2004), posted July 23 2004 on swissair111.org and 2010 by Malcolm Turner and his company (the World Leadership Forum, Ltd, of the UK) under the auspices of the Royal Aeronautical Society of the U.K. and the Aero Club of France (Aéro-Club de France)."The World Leadership Forum Limited" page, in the business-information database-website Duedil.com
The awards, given annually, were typically organized in a hierarchy: 1.) All entries in each category of each award (typically varying from seven to dozens of contestants, depending on the volume of entries—commonly in the hundreds). ...which judges narrowed down to... 2.) "Shortlist" finalists in each category (usually about the top 5 candidates) (Shortlists were published on the respective Awards program websites for the few months leading up to the Awards Banquet/Ceremony.) ...from which, based on judges' scores, were selected... 3.) ""Best in Category" winners" in each topical category, announced at the Awards Banquet/Ceremony ...from which were selected, based on judges' scores... 4.) The OVERALL "Aerospace Journalist of the Year," also announced at the Awards Banquet/Ceremony ...and an additional award... 5.) The "DECADE OF EXCELLENCE" Award was also awarded each year (based on judges' scores), for the most outstanding aerospace journalist of the previous ten years.
Trophies
The AJOYA awards were originally trophies in the form of a bronze eagle – leading the awards to become known colloquially as 'budgies', and for the competition to become known as the 'Budgie Awards'. The design of the trophy changed several times, becoming a representation of the Aerospace Journalist of the Year logo, and then a simple engraved glass 'spike'.
History The aerospace industry's writing awards, previously for many years (1960s to mid-/late 1990s), had been awarded annually by the U.S.-based Aviation & Space Writers' Association, at a grand banquet gathering aviation industry leaders and luminaries. That organization and its awards program dissolved, leaving a vacuum in the aviation media world.
Starting in the late 1990s, until 2009–2010, that void was filled by a British enterprise—the World Leadership Forum, Ltd. – in collaboration with the world's two oldest aviation organizations: the Aero Club of France (Aéro-Club de France), and the Royal Aeronautical Society (of the United Kingdom)."Craig Covault Wins 2009 Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award", Chuck Oldham (Editor) on July 16, 2009, DefenseMediaNetwork.com
Awards were issued in several "Category" topic areas (see lists below).
Contest entries (copies of published articles or broadcasts) were received from publications and authors, then copied and redistributed to judges in each category, who then narrowed the submissions down to a few finalists (the prestigious "Shortlist") in each category, which was then published on the organization website during the months leading up to the banquet.
The "Shortlist" candidates were invited to the Awards Banquet, where they would then discover who, among them, would be awarded the "Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award" in that respective category. Then from the category winners, a tally of judges' scores determined the one overall "Aerospace Journalist of the Year," and one Honoree for a "Decade of Excellence" Award.
The awards were first presented in London in 1996, and throughout the years, the presentation ceremonies have alternated between Paris and London—roughly coinciding with the world's two main airshows: the Paris Air Show and Farnborough Air Show (England), held on alternate years.
In London, the AJOYA ceremonies have taken place at the Ballroom of the Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly,"Vayu nominated again for The 2010 Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards" , Vayu Aerospace and Defence Review, posted in 2010 and at the Royal Courts of Justice, and they directly preceded the biennial Farnborough Airshow.
The organization depended upon aerospace industry companies to sponsor the awards, and reciprocated their generosity by offering them seating with the AJOYA finalists at the awards banquet—a public-relations opportunity for aerospace industry leaders and P.R. execs to charm their industry's leading writers and opinion-shapers.
However, remotely located from most of the world's aviation media (in London or Paris, far removed from the Americas, Africa and Asia), many aerospace writers who made the awards-finalist "Shortlists" (and were thus invited to the banquet), were unable to attend—undermining the value of the banquet, and sponsorships, to AJOYA's commercial sponsors.
The awards then began to be limited to only those writers who would make the trip to the banquet, sharply reducing eligibility for the awards.
Initially, relatively few of the world's aerospace journalists competed, and the awards were almost exclusively from the U.S. and Britain, with a few contestants from Western Europe and British Commonwealth nations.
However, as the years went by, many more entered the contests, and additional categories of judging were added, and non-English entries were admitted (and translated into English for the judges), drawing contest entries from throughout the world—Russia and Eastern Europe, China and East Asia, South Asia, Latin America and Africa.
The volume of entries began to overwhelm the limited number of AJOYA judges, creating difficulties.
The global economic "Great Recession" that started in 2007 soon collapsed the aerospace industry, and forced drastic budget-tightening on nearly all aerospace companies. "Extras"—such as support of aviation organizations and programs—were cut out of many companies' budgets.
The awards ended amid rumours that they folded due to a lack of sponsorship.
The World Leadership Forum, Ltd. organization dissolved in 2009, according to the business-info website Duedil.com.
The AJOYA.com website is now off-line and the domain name is for sale.
There were no awards in 2011, and in 2012 a different organiser held a new Aerospace Media Awards dinner at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.
Judges Judges were chiefly leading aerospace industry editors & writers, and business/technical leaders & experts—largely chosen from the ranks of former AJOYA winners or "Shortlist" finalists—from around the world.
The judges came from aerospace industry publications such as:
Aero Revue Aviation International News Aviation Week & Space Technology Business & Commercial Aviation Flight International Jane's Defence Weekly
To ensure fair judging, judges were recused from voting on their own submissions, and from voting on any other submissions from any publication for whom they wrote, or any "sister" publication (owned by the same, or a related, company).
The final list of AJOYA judges (see below) finished with the note: "The judges have not marked any entry from their own publication/company, or any sister publication/company"
This is the last list of judges, which remained on the AJOYA.com website until 2010:
2009 Judges: Charles Alcock, Editorial Director, Aviation International News Guy Anderson, Editor, Jane's Defence Industry Patricia Andrighetto, Editor, Aero Revue James Asker, Managing Editor, Aviation Week & Space Technology Tom Ballantyne, Chief Correspondent, Orient Aviation Douglas Barrie, London Bureau Chief, Aviation Week & Space Technology Elaine Camhi, Editor-in-Chief, Aerospace America James Careless, Freelance journalist, TJT Design & Communication Bill Carey, Editor in Chief, Avionics Magazine Rob Coppinger, Technical Editor, Flight International Nick Fadugba, Publisher & Editor, African Aviation Bernard Fitzsimons, Freelance Journalist William Garvey, Editor-in-Chief, Business & Commercial Aviation magazine Ian Goold, Aviation Journalist Bruce Hales-Dutton, Freelance Journalist, Editor & Consultant Richard Harris, Aviation Writer Ed Hazelwood, Editor-In-Chief, Aviation Week & Space Technology Hans Heerkens, Aviation Analyst & Assistant Professor, University of Twente Johnny Keggler, Editor, Armada International Paul Lewis, Director of International Communications, Boeing IDS Alexander Mladenov, Consulting Editor, Klub Krile Julian Nott, Aviation Consultant Don Peterson, President, Universal Analyzers, Inc. Elliot Pulham, President & CEO, The Space Foundation David Rimmer, Executive Vice President, ExcelAire Service, LLC John Sharman, Executive Director, Spectrum Capital London, Limited Rod Simpson, Editor, Aviation World Michael Simpson, President, International Space University Vikramjit Singh Chopra, Editor-in-Chief, Vayu Aerospace Review Pierre Sparaco, Freelance journalist (former European Bureau Chief, Aviation Week & Space Technology) Lee Ann Tegtmeier, Managing Editor, Overhaul & Maintenance Aimee Turner, Senior Editor, Flight International Tony Velocci, Editor-in-Chief, Aviation Week & Space Technology Brian Walters, Freelance Journalist Howard Wheeldon, Senior Strategist, BGC Partners Mark Williamson, Space Technology Consultant
Categories The categories for the awards include: Air Show Daily Air Show Submission Air Transport Avionics Breaking News Business Aircraft Business or Financial Defence General Aviation Maintenance Propulsion Regional Aircraft Safety Space Systems or Technology Decade of Excellence
Winners Winners are grouped below into: THE DECADE OF EXCELLENCE winner (one per year) THE AEROSPACE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (overall) winner (one per year) The CATEGORY WINNERS (one in each category, each year) (NOTE: The Shortlist finalists in each category are NOT listed below).
THE DECADE OF EXCELLENCE Award 1996 Pierre Sparaco of Aviation Week & Space Technology 1997 Pierre Condom of Interavia 1998 Phillip Klass of Aviation Week & Space Technology 1999 Jim Holahan of Aviation International News 2000 René Francillon 2001 Jeff Cole of the Wall Street Journal (posthumously) 2002 Graham Warwick of Flight International 2003 John Fricker of Aviation Week Group 2004 Craig Covault – Aviation Week & Space Technology 2005 Richard Aarons of Business & Commercial Aviation 2006 Guy Norris of Flight International 2007 William Gunston 2008 Perry Flint 2009 Not awarded 2010 Not awarded
THE AEROSPACE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: 1996 Eric Biass of Armada International 1997 Robert Ropelewski of Aerospace America (posthumous) 1998 Philip Whiteman of Pilot (UK magazine) 1999 Kathleen Kocks of Global Airspace 2000 Andrew Chuter of Flight International 2001 Perry Flint of Air Transport World 2002 James Ott of Aviation Week & Space Technology 2003 James Canan of Aerospace America 2004 James Donoghue Air Transport World