Joe Clark

Aviation visionary Joe Clark, partner in Seattle’s Gateway USA, LLC, Clay Lacy Aviation, LLC, has received the Meritorious Service to Aviation Award from the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). Presented November 18 at the 2015 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas, it is business aviation’s most distinguished honor, recognizing extraordinary lifelong professional contributions to aviation.

The co-founder, chairman and CEO of Seattle-based Aviation Partners, Inc. (API), Clark led the development of advanced technology winglet systems, showcasing both speed and performance in record-setting flights with Clay Lacy in the mid-1990’s. As of June 2015, API estimates the company’s Blended Winglet Technology has saved commercial and business jet operators an estimated five billion gallons of jet fuel—representing a global reduction of 107 billion pounds in CO2 emissions. Aviation Partners-designed winglets are now flying on more than 6,100 individual jet airplanes and more than 20 aircraft types across the globe.