During yesterday morning’s opening session of NBAA’s Schedulers & Dispatchers conference in San Antonio, Gerald Grady, the manager of flight dispatch for CSX Corporation, was presented with the 2013 Schedulers & Dispatchers Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award.

The appointed chairman of the inaugural NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Subcommittee in 1989, Grady led the S&D Conference during his term in office from 1990 to 1993. He has since been a speaker at numerous subsequent S&D Conferences.

A graduate of Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in aviation management, he soon joined the flight department at CSX (then Chessie System), where he has served for more than three decades. In 2002, Grady was appointed a liaison to the then-new NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Advisory Council. He also has been a recipient of the NBAA Aviation Support Services Safety Award recognizing 30 years of safe operations.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes in aviation,” said Grady. “I started dispatching with a string and a map; now I couldn’t do it without a computer. I feel fortunate that I’ve always had a job where I enjoy going to work every day.”

Created in 2008, the Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have shared their outstanding business aviation industry expertise, provided extraordinary service, exhibited leadership and made significant contributions to the scheduling and dispatching function.