Tony Jannus Award goes to Joe Leonard

I was in St. Petersburg, Florida, last Thursday for the Tony Jannus Award ceremony. Tony Jannus piloted the first commercial flight ever, in a 2-seat biplane, between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida. Apparently, before they built that big bridge across the bay, it would take two hours to drive between the two cities, so flying made very good sense back in the day.

Tony Jannus’s life was cut short by a fatal plane accident, but his spirit lives on. The Tony Jannus Society was created to honor his legacy. Every year they select an aviation innovator to receive a very prestigious award. This year’s honoree was Joe Leonard. As you can imagine, I just couldn’t stay away from this event! Fred, Lin (AirTran CAK Station Manager extraordinaire) and I were among 450 of his closet friends. Joe Leonard, AirTran Airways’ CEO, is just a great guy. He attributed his great success with the company to the employees of AirTran Airways. That was really cool. He has definitely surrounded himself with a top notch team. All the top brass at AirTran are great really. They have always treated me and Fred like family, and we just can’t ask for more than that.

Past Tony Jannus award winners include Eddie Rickenbacker, Richard Branson, Herb Kelleher and David Neeleman among other notables. Joe belongs with the best of them. Congratulations, Joe!

Comments

Happy New Years to my neighbors out at Akron/Canton. Continue the tremendous work you do at your airport. Most airports are jealous of how well you have grown in just a 10 year span, and will continue growing in the future. I have flown it 10+ times in the last couple years, and will continue using it.

Right now my coalition of Airport Supporters are trying to help out the struggling Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. They have done a successful job with flights to Orlando aboard Allegiant Air (ALGT-Nasdaq), but they have not done much since then.

YNG needs to look at how well CAK has done over the years and perhaps take some tips from you guys. You run a very successful operation and should be commended for IT! You earn my award for the best airport in Ohio and the best operation of any government funded operation in the region.

GOOD LUCK IN 2007!

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