Four Industry Icons Receive MRO Awards At MRO Americas

CHICAGO—Four industry veterans received prestigious awards at the opening day of MRO Americas 2024.

Aviation Week Network recognized two individuals with Lifetime Achievement Awards in MRO.

Don Mitacek managed large MRO facilities with multiple locations and thousands of people—while also improving operations and safety. He retired from Delta Airlines as senior VP technical operations and president of Delta TechOps Service Group. In this role, he was responsible for 9,600 people in 14 countries who performed engineering and maintenance. During his tenure with Delta, maintenance cancellations decreased from 5,647 in 2010 to 55 in 2019. Personal safety rates improved—and annual revenue grew to about $1 billion.

In addition, Aviation Week posthumously honored Earl Exum, former International Aero Engines chairperson and Pratt & Whitney vice president of Mature Commercial Engines, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Exum, who died Oct. 1, 2023, at age 55, worked for Pratt & Whitney for more than 25 years—holding positions such as IAE president, VP maintenance services and aftermarket sales, and VP commercial spares and material solutions.

Beyond this, Exum passionately mentored people and was an active volunteer. He was the power behind Pratt’s African American Forum. He served on RTX’s DE&I Advisory Council, as well as on several community boards.

As Rick Deurloo, president of P&W Commercial Engines, said, “Earl lived his beliefs out loud—with respect and dignity for all—and inspired others to do the same.”

Airlines for Americas (A4A) presented the 58th annual Nuts and Bolts Awards to Gerald “Jerry” Yagan and Ken MacTiernan.

Yagan is the founder and president of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, which started as one school in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1969 and has grown to a group of schools across the U.S. that accounts for about 25% of A&P students in the U.S., according to Bob Ireland, A4A’s VP safety, engineering and maintenance. Yagan also founded and is the president of the Military Aviation Museum, a facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia, dedicated to World War I and World War II aircraft.

MacTiernan, an aviation maintenance line mechanic for American Airlines for three decades, founded the Aviation Maintenance Technicians Association (AMTA) in 2002 to honor Charles Taylor, the Wright Brothers’ mechanic and “father” of aviation maintenance, and the men and women in the profession. He became vice president of the Aerospace Maintenance Council, where he helped create the Aerospace Maintenance Competition, which has taken place at MRO Americas for several years.