NATA Industry Excellence Awards Continued from page 21 couldn’t believe it. My parents are still alive, and I don’t think even they’ve ever fully realized what I do beyond ‘works on airplanes,’ so I was proud to be able to tell them NATA is recognizing me as one of the best ‘works on airplanes’ guys in the biz.” Future Leader Award: Mike Hushek Mike Hushek—FBO Manager at Naples Aviation in Naples, Florida since March 2018—is the recipient of the inaugural Future Leader Award. “It’s a huge honor for me, less than two years on the job here at Naples Aviation, and a real testament to the record- breaking we’ve been doing here in that time,” Hushek said. “The hard work and effort that the entire team has put in here at Naples Aviation has helped us to break several fuel sales records over the course of the past year, all while maintaining an impeccable safety record. It’s been super exciting!” Hushek came to Naples Aviation after two years of experience as an Airport Operations Specialist at the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority in Tampa and four years as an aviation consultant at Brookline Aviation Development. He had previous FBO management experience earlier in his career as Vice President of FBO Services at Dyenamic Aviation Services and eight years at St. Petersburg Clearwater International Airport as FBO Manager for Avantair’s three FBO locations. He was the Line Service Supervisor at Lewis University Airport in Illinois while he was still in college and got his first post-college job in the industry as a Ramp Operations Manager for United Express Airlines at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. “I’ve got 15 years in this industry now, and I’ve had a lot of great mentors, people who really took me under 22 their wings and showed me a lot about FBOs,” Hushek said. “When I saw this job open up at Naples, it just seemed so perfect, and it was really the most confident I’ve ever felt in a job interview. When they called me, I knew it was to offer me the job. I was that confident, and now that I’m more than a year in, I’m really enjoying it.” Hushek initially dreamed of working as a pilot but is thankful to have had professors and mentors introduce him to some of the other sides of the industry, which he now considers a better fit. “Ever since I was a kid, my eyes were just pointed at the sky and I was dead-set on being a pilot,” he said. “I couldn’t fathom how these things got off the ground and stayed in the air. I’ve just always been fascinated with flight. I think I was just one of those kids who always loved the thrill of flight. And the more I learned about the industry, the more attracted I got to every other aspect of it, just as much as the actual flying.” His first order of business, after taking the job at Naples, was to make sure he had the support of his staff of 50 people, so they could head towards his very ambitious goals together. “The aim is to equip employees and leaders with the tools they need to excel today and be prepared for tomorrow. We offer progressive opportunities for employee and leadership development in order to inspire the next generation of aviation professionals.” By follow- ing their guiding principles of providing excellent service, remaining committed to sustainability, and fostering a val- ued, engaged, and empowered workforce, Naples Aviation has created a values-centered culture that successfully supports their employees, customers, and community. “I came in with all these ideas about how to get the staff on my side, but it didn’t turn out to be much of a challenge: everybody jumped right on board with me,” he said. “It’s a really inspiring team we have here, and I’m honored to be accepting this award knowing that Scott Seber is also getting the Safety 1st Award: Naples Aviation leadership were the ones who nominated him. We prob- ably could have nominated somebody in just about every category, with how strong this team is. It’s such a unique place! I want people to come visit, just to experience what we do here every single day.” Aviation Business Journal | Summer 2019
