Oklahoma Aeronautics Commision Director Honored with Heritage Award

The Oklahoma Airport Operators Association (OAOA) presented Victor Bird, Director of the Okalahoma Aeronautics Commission, with the Heritage Award during its annual conference last month. This is only the second time the Heritage award has been presented by the OAOA. (Photo – Victor Bird, left, receives the Heritage Award from OAOA’s Chris Bryant.)

Bird called it an honor… “and the honor isn’t just because I’m in superb company, namely former astronaut John Herrington, but because the award is for doing exactly what the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission was created to do: ensuring that the needs of commerce and communities are met by the state’s public airports, and increasing the viability of our aerospace industry.” In other words, Bird said he recieved the Heritage Award for doing exactly what he was supposed to do.

The OAOA presented the first Heritage Award in 2009 to former NASA astronaut and Wetumka Okla., resident John Herrington.

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Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.