SCHAUMBURG – Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig on 24 May congratulated the “2010 Airport of the Year” award recipients.  Seven Illinois airports were recognized at the Illinois Aviation Conference, held in Schaumburg last week, for their accomplishments throughout the year, including an outstanding partnership with the state of Illinois and their commitment to customer satisfaction.

“We are very proud of the commitment made to ensure the comfort and safety of Illinois travelers,” Secretary Hannig said.  “These airports set the bar for excellence and we are happy to partner with them to continue to advance aviation and further safe and efficient air travel throughout Illinois.”

Each year under the guidance of Director Susan Shea, top staff of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Aeronautics vote to determine which airports should receive Special Recognition as “Airport of the Year.”  The criteria for the award selections are based on cooperation and coordination with the Division of Aeronautics by airport management and their staff, the facility safety record, promotion of seminars and aviation events and maintenance of the facility.  Director Shea stated that “there are many fine airports and landing facilities throughout the state.  It is a difficult task to narrow it down to one winner in each category.”

Gen-Airpark won the award in the category of “Private – Open to the Public Airports”.  These are airports that are privately owned and don’t rely on federal or state funds to operate.  These airports have to meet the same safety requirements as publicly owned airports.

The Illinois State Aviation System is one of the largest in the nation - comprised of more than 870 individual landing facilities. 

Congratulations to all those GEN-AIR members who have made this possible.  Special thanks to all of the present and past board members who have worked the many years required to achieve this honor, and a very special thanks to Kent Johnson and Mark Bauer for their tireless efforts to continuously improve our award-winning field.  Their pursuit of excellence has been a key and invaluable factor in this noteworthy achievement.