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Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year goes to John Uczekaj of Aspen Avionics

President and CEO of Aspen Avionics John Uczekaj was recently named the Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year by Living Legends of Aviaiton.

Uczekaj won the award for leading Aspen Avionics, a new startup​ company in the aviation ​industry, while successfully securing investments in order to fund new products.

“I came to Aspen six years ago for the opportunity to build the next major player in the avionics industry,” said Uczekaj. “The company's entrepreneurial spirit is key to that success and it is what keeps us innovating and moving forward. Every day I focus on keeping that spirit."

Uczekaj ​added that the award came as a complete surprise. He also said that he is truly humbled to be honored as there are so many dedicated and talented people within the general aviation industry who were worthy of the award.

This latest recognition adds to a long list of awards for Aspen, which was named the AEA's​ Associated Member of the Year, earned the Editor's Choice Award from both Flying Magazine and Rotor & Wing magazine for the company's Evolution Flight Display System and was placed on Red Herring's list of the top 100 North American companies.

Uczekaj has more than 30 years of experience within the aviation industry. He started at Boeing and later moved to management positions at Sperry and Honeywell. While at Honeywell, Uczekaj​eventually became the vice president of development engineering and later led the division of marketing for the commercial avionics systems. Before joining Aspen, he was president and COO of the NORDAM​ Group.

The Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year was not the only award given out to the general aviation community. Women in aviation were​ recently inducted into the International Pioneer Hall of Fame. A ceremony will be held at the 24th annual WAI International Conference, hosted at the Gaylord Opryland​ Resort in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 14-16, to honor the women who have made  names for themselve​s in the aviation industry.

“The banquet is the culminating event of our annual conference,” says WAI President Peggy Chabrian. “Inducting new individuals into our Pioneer Hall of Fame is typically the high point of the evening. Our members have the opportunity to learn the stories first-hand — and often meet and be photographed with — the women and men who made history. It's thrilling to witness.”

Awards like these highlight the critical role general aviators play in the U.S. Those in general aviation should look into pilot life insurance in order to make sure their love of flying is passed down for generations to come.

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