![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Capt-Bohlke-edit.png\")
Given in honor and memory of the association\u2019s co-founder\nand first president, the William A. \u201cBill\u201d Ong Memorial Award recognizes\nextraordinary achievement and extended meritorious service to the general\naviation industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCaptain Bohlke\u2019s roots in developing and fostering aviation\nin the U.S. Virgin Islands run deep. A lifelong aviator, educator, and industry\nadvocate, Bill has always leveraged his skills and resources to prioritize the\nsafety, viability, and welfare of his community, demonstrating firsthand the\nimmense value of aviation businesses,\u201d said NATA President and CEO Timothy\nObitts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In January 2006, Bohlke retired from American Airlines with\n38 years of service, ranking second in seniority of 12,000 pilots. However, his\naviation career first began when he followed his father\u2019s footsteps to the\nCaribbean at age 16 to help build the family aviation business founded in 1959.\nLater, Bohlke and his wife Ruth Ann (Tuddy) expanded the business through many\nstages: Virgin Islands Airways, Eastern Caribbean Air, and finally Bohlke\nInternational Airways, officially formed in 1984 in the U.S. Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bohlke wrote and certified the first and only FAA- and\nVA-approved flight schools in the Virgin Islands \u2014 allowing veterans from the\nKorean and Vietnam Wars to obtain their pilot licenses at 10 percent cost, with\nthe federal government subsidizing the remaining 90 percent. Many of his\nstudents went on to successful aviation careers as captains for carriers\nincluding UPS, United, and Delta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an FAA Flight Examiner from 1970-2017, Bohlke certified\nmore than 1,000 pilots for private, commercial, instrument, multi-engine,\nflight instructor, airline transport, and type ratings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, Bohlke International Airways is an award-winning FBO,\ncharter operator, and 145 repair station that successfully thrived through\nmajor hurricanes Hugo and Maria. His son, William R. (Billy), runs the\nday-to-day operations, with Bohlke acting in a business advisory role. The\ncompany is majority family-owned and operated and grew to 60 team members in\n2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bohlke has served as the Federal Aviation Safety Counselor\nfor the Virgin Islands, represented the industry during numerous aviation\nsummer programs and academic career days, and was instrumental in starting the\nSt. Croix chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen. He has also been an active\nparticipant in leading aviation groups, including NATA, where he served on the\nBoard from 1986-1989; and the Quiet Birdman, where he served as Governor of the\nSt. Croix Hangar. Bohlke is currently the President of The Grey Eagles, an\norganization serving senior and retired American Airlines pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to NATA\u2019s 2022 Distinguished Service Award,\nBohlke has received the 2018 Pegasus Award for Aviation Lifetime Achievement in\nthe Caribbean, the 2013 Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of\naccident-free flying, the 2009 St. Croix Chamber of Commerce Lifetime\nAchievement Award, and the 2002 Spirit of American Award in recognition of\noutstanding contribution to American Airlines Flight Operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has announced that industry legend Captain William \u201cBill\u201d Bohlke will receive the association\u2019s Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his outstanding service and ongoing contributions to the industry. The award will be presented during a luncheon on November 3, held in conjunction with the NATA 2022 Aviation Business Conference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22790,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22788\/revisions\/22790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}