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A4A Announces Nominations are Open for the 2027 Nuts & Bolts Awards

October 23, 2026

Airlines for America is proud to announce nominations are now open for the 2027 Nuts & Bolts Awards, which recognize individuals who demonstrate outstanding service and achievements in the technical operations field within the commercial aviation industry.

First organized by members of the Air Transport Association of America (now A4A) in 1967, these prestigious industry awards have long recognized outstanding engineering and maintenance employees.

Safety is and will always be the top priority of U.S. airlines—both passenger and cargo carriers—and the industry is constantly working to exceed the highest standards of safety.

U.S. airlines could not operate 28,000 flights carrying 2.7 million travelers and 61,000 tons of cargo daily without the vital engineering and maintenance professionals who work tirelessly to uphold and surpass the industry’s safety record.

A4A presents the Nuts and Bolts Awards to two individuals: one chosen from an airline and another person selected from an airline support partner, such as a maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), government or other aviation-support organization.

This award has been given to many deserving luminaries in the field, including Joe Sutter, manager of the design team of the Boeing 747, and Former National Transportation Safety Board Member John Goglia.

The most-recent Nuts & Bolts Award recipients are:

Nomination Guidelines

Nominations should include 300-500 words justifying why a candidate’s contributions to the aviation industry in the engineering and maintenance field deserve recognition and the role these individuals played in industry activities with significant outcomes.

Nominations may be made using the form below from now until December 15, 2026. The award recipients will be announced April 13-15, 2027, at the 2027 MRO Americas Conference in Orlando and will be honored at a luncheon featuring previous Nuts & Bolts award recipients.