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.
I was downing my eighth chocolate chip cookie when the marvel of today's global air transportation system struck home. Again. The killer batch of double-dark confections were baked by my niece, recently arrived from New Zealand, and there about to return with her brood. Meanwhile, the stack of classic, morsel-dotted blondes were baked in wonderful abundance by my youngest sister, soon to be launching for Abu Dhabi where her physician-husband is working on contract in a clinic.
When design work began on the Eclipse, the original very light jet, the key to keeping its purchase price low—it was originally advertised at around $750,000, if you recall—was to build them in high volume. And, as the original backers saw it, the only way to get production numbers high and fast was to put them into service as high-cycle air taxis.
For owners of Hawker Beechcraft jets, the company's bankruptcy and its decision to abandon jet manufacturing altogether is surely unsettling. After all, where will they get parts to keep flying? But that very question also has a lot of others calculating. It's estimated that there are 1,600-1,800 Hawker 125 series jets in operation. Also, there are approximately 300 Premier/Hawker 200s, 600 or so Beechjet/Hawker 400s and a handful of Hawker 400s. That's quite a fleet in continuing need of parts and service.
