Bill was Editor-in-Chief of Business & Commercial Aviation from 2000 to 2020. During his stewardship, the monthly magazine received scores of awards for editorial excellence.
He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the National Business Aviation Association; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Aerospace Media Awards; the Aviation Journalism Award from the National Air Transportation Association; and an Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award for Business Aviation.
Previously, Bill served as Managing Editor of Aviation Week Television. He was the top editor for both Flying and Professional Pilot magazines, as well as a member of the senior editorial staff at Reader's Digest. He also managed communications for FlightSafety International.
Bill has authored or co-authored three aviation books, was an essayist for National Public Radio, wrote aviation documentaries for The Discovery Channel and has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, Smithsonian Air & Space, Popular Mechanics and The Associated Press, among others.
An active aviator, Bill holds a Commercial Pilot license, along with multiengine, instrument, seaplane and glider ratings.
Unhappily surprised by FAA's notice that it planned to bill for extra controller staffing at its annual summer fly-in in Oshkosh, Wis., the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and its members lobbied Congress hard to block the charge. However, facing a spectrum of unpalatable options, under protest EAA finalized a one-time agreement to cover nearly $450,000 in expenses related to ATC services at the event. “Let me be clear: We have consistently regarded the FAA's move as holding AirVenture and GA hostage this year,” said EAA Chairman Jack Pelton.
The brooding, blarney and bluster that attend to my surname notwithstanding, the truth is that half my ancestry is German. You see, my given name derives from Wilhelm Gunther, my grandfather, who emigrated alone to the U.S. as a nearly penniless teenager and went on to achieve great success as a commercial printer and paragon of his community. He also loved sports, drove cars too fast, crashed boats with curious regularity and watched proudly but surely with an aching heart as his two sons donned uniforms of his new country and left to defend it from the old.
According to a research report on Textron Inc. and issued in June by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Cessna Aircraft's backlog decreased 40% from a year earlier and Bell Helicopter's had fallen by 1%. Bell now comprises 65% of the conglomerate's total backlog while Cessna accounts for just 9%. Despite that, the researchers said, “The outlook for the business jet industry is positive, as fundamentals continue to stabilize, and 2013 may be an inflection point for Cessna.”
