The British Business Aviation Association (BBGA) recently presented its Michael Wheatley Award to Penny Stephens, CEO of Inflite The Jet Centre. The award recognizes outstanding services to the general aviation industry.

BBGA CEO Marc Bailey credited Stephens for evolving "a family-run, independent business into a thriving, international-focused concern in MRO and executive aviation handling for over three decades, without losing any of those family-held values.”

Stephens learned to fly at 17 and began working at Thurston Aviation, initially as a secretary and later moving into administration. She joined Inflite, the aviation company run by her husband Ray Stephens, in 1992. There, she became involved in all aspects of the MRO business, signing legacy airlines such as Aer Lingus and Lufthansa to support their BAE 146 regional jets. More than a decade later she redesigned the offices and agreed to support the new Embraer Legacy. Now, the MRO is the largest EMEA-authorized service center for the Legacy, Lineage, and Phenom series. By 2012, as CEO, she had steered the business into an international center catering to VIP guests.