Monte Mitchell Recognized By Industry On Opening Day

Monte Mitchell, past president of Aircraft Electronics Association, received the AEA Lifetime Achievement Award during a ceremony at the AEA Official Opening Thursday in the Grand Sierra Resort Theater in Reno, NV. AEA's 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is an industry veteran who served nearly 40 years in the general aviation industry.

Mitchell is an AEA legend, having served first as executive director, then president of the association from 1977 to 1996. His career in aviation began in 1956, when he joined Wilcox Electric Co., a transponder manufacturer. When he left Wilcox in the mid-1970s, Mitchell was recruited by a new face in the aviation manufacturing industry, Bonzer.

For a few years, he was responsible for marketing its line of radar altimeters. In 1977, Mitchell was recruited for the position of executive director of AEA. Up to 1977, the AEA was run by a volunteer staff. Realizing the potential for growth and the work involved, the board of directors decided to hire a full-time, paid staff to properly grow the AEA.

During his tenure as AEA president, Mitchell tripled the membership size and introduced new programs and services to the members, including the equipment exchange program and the annual rate and labor survey, and he quadrupled the size of the association's monthly magazine, Avionics News.

Under Mitchell's leadership, the AEA reached beyond North American borders and hosted the first AEA Europe meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1987. Today, AEA membership reaches every corner of the world. He also led the establishment of the AEA Educational Foundation to help industry promote careers in the aviation maintenance industry.

Nominated and selected by the AEA board of directors, Monte Mitchell is being recognized by industry peers for his contributions to the association and the general aviation industry.

FMI: www.aea.net